Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

8 Months Later

Celaine opened her eyes and smiled seeing how she finally made a breakthrough into the Mid-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm.

She's been working exceptionally hard to increase her cultivation and fighting prowess over the last 8 months and couldn't help but feel proud of what she achieved. Although her cultivation has only gone up a single Minor Realm, her actual strength has grown significantly more. Especially her saber skills.

It could be said that her talent with the Saber is very exceptional and she would probably even be considered a genius in places like the Central Continent.

She doesn't even need a teacher to help her increase her Saber Skills as her talent is more than enough to make up for that, at least for now that is. Every day her skills become more and more refined especially now that she has a goal in mind.

She tries to hop into a life-or-death situation almost every day in order to stimulate her potential since she knows that this is the fastest way for her strength to rise.

Maria and Mira are already ahead of her both in cultivation and combat skills so if she wants to catch up with them, she needs to work extra hard but it wasn't all for naught.

Her gains over the past 8 months have been quite substantial, but it's still not enough to beat Mira as she is still a Minor Realm higher than her. However, in terms of weapon skills, she feels that she's not too far off from Mira's level.

Well, that's at least how she feels. She's not sure if she's ever seen Mira's limit and even when she fought in the war against the Soul Devouring Sect, it seemed like she was just casually swinging her scythe around since the enemies were so much weaker than her.

Nevertheless, she's confident in her talent and hard work! A month of training for her might be the equivalent of several months worth of training for other people or perhaps even more than that.

As long as she keeps up this pace over the next year and a half, she has full confidence in beating Mira… with Maria's help of course.

"Sigh… I suppose it's about time I leave Maria now that I've broken through, but I can't really be too sad about it. I can only handle so much of her before I lose my damn mind."

Celaine got up with complex emotions when all of a sudden she heard a voice.

"You can only handle so much of what?"

Celaine knew it was Maria talking and her face fell. She couldn't help but sigh again as she walked out of her little cultivation cave.

"It's nothing. I was just saying that it's probably about time for me to leave."

"Oh? I thought you were saying how you were about to lose your mind if you stayed with me any longer… *Sniff* *Sniff* I've taken such great care of you over the last 8 months and this is the thanks I get? I only have you to keep me company, I'll die of loneliness if you leave!"

Hearing this, Celaine just looked at Maria expressionlessly with a face that said: 'Bitch, please. You always run off on your own to do your own thing and leave the dregs for me to deal with! Nothing will change for you if I leave!'.

Of course, she didn't say that and just kept staring at Maria.

"Hehe~ Well whatever. As much as I hate to say it, I also think it's a good idea for you to go off on your own. A baby bird needs to leave the nest at some point. Sigh… They grow up so fast."

Maria said this while looking up at the sky with an exaggerated expression.

Celaine felt her eyes twitch a couple of times listening to this nonsense but figured it'd be better for her mental health if she didn't comment and just ignored her.

"Yeah… I'll probably go back to Mira and ask Elenei to take me somewhere so I can train my Wind Dao."

"Oh! That's a good idea! I never thought of that. Tell Mira I said 'Hi' when you see her again."

"Sure, whatever. I'm sure she probably already knows everything we've been doing over the past 8 months anyways."

Celaine said nonchalantly, but her words caused Maria to freeze up.

"W-What? W-Why do you say that?" She stuttered.

"It's obvious, isn't it? She's probably had Elenei keep an eye on us to make sure we don't die or something like that. But don't worry, I'll make sure to send your regards to her hahaha!"

"Fuck… NO! I must train harder or she'll definitely leave me bedridden for at least a few weeks!" Maria couldn't help but panic a little at the thought of Mira knowing everything they've talked about.

"Anyways, I'll see you in about a year! Have fun! Hehe~"

Celaine had a triumphant smile on her face and dashed in the direction Mira is staying at.

"NO! Celaine! Wait! Tell Mira I didn't mean what I said and I was just teasing her! Celaaaiiiinnneee!"

Both of them knew that Mira seems to enjoy beating Maria up more than she does Celaine. Or maybe it's not enjoyment, but more annoyance. Although Maria is surprisingly a fairly intelligent person when she actually decides to use her brain, most of the time she's an idiot who does everything without thinking.

Celaine is a bit different. When she's being beaten up, it's in the form of training and those wounds are there to symbolize what she did wrong. Very rarely is she beaten up because she did or said something stupid.

In fact, Celaine understands that Mira has high hopes for her and it's actually a good thing for her if Celaine gets stronger and more skilled. That way, Mira can use Celaine's talent to help refine her Scythe skills.

If Mira was truly listening in to what they said through Elenei, then she'll understand the difference between Celaine's and Maria's goals.

Celaine wants to defeat Mira because so far she's the most difficult opponent she's ever faced. She's someone worth looking up to. She's something that can become a goal for Celaine and someone that she hopes to surpass.

Maria, on the other hand, just wants to see Mira beneath her foot for a change. Not even out of pettiness or revenge, but just because she'll find it amusing.

So while they both have the same goal, the reasons behind it are completely different and Mira is smart enough to understand that so naturally Celaine wasn't all that worried about Mira overhearing their conversations.

.

.

.

A few days later, Celaine had reached the area where Mira was staying and sure enough, she spotted a giant Frost-Fire Phoenix laying down staring at her.

"Welcome back. I see your adventure has been fruitful." Elenei greeted with a warm smile. She's grown to like Celaine over the past 8 months. Whether it be in talent, strength, or temperament, Celaine is very exceptional and also very mature.

"Yeah, I suppose it did. I'm sure you know why I've come back. I want to ask if you can drop me off somewhere I can train my Wind Dao better."

"Fufu~ Yes, I can do that. I'm also interested to see how strong you'll become in the upcoming months. I hope that you and that other child can become strong enough to deal with this Little Devil. Seeing Mira lying on the ground in defeat would surely be my best memory before I undergo Nirvana and transform back into an egg." Elenei giggled with a mysterious smile.

"I just hope I can put up a good fight against her. Whether or not I can beat her…" Celaine didn't finish her sentence, but Elenei understood the meaning.

"I see. Well, just tell me when you're ready to go and I can take you to your destination. I have just the place in mind."

"I'm ready to leave now. I'm afraid if I take a break now, I might not be able to keep the same resolution as before."

"Haha, very good! I can see potential in you! If you work hard enough and with a bit of luck, I have no doubt you'll be able to take down this Devil! Alright, hop on!"

Elenei said excitedly and lowered her back in front of Celaine.

Celaine didn't waste any time and hopped on her back then she looked over at Mira and figured she should say a few words.

"Oh yeah, Mira. Maria said that she can't wait to see you under her foot! She said to wash your neck since she's coming for you. Pfft."

Celaine could barely hold back her laughter just thinking about those cringy lines.

"Hehe."

Mira just let out an evil chuckle and opened her eyes slightly to look at Celaine.

Celaine shuddered a bit and almost felt bad for Maria… almost.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before nodding. There was no need for words at this point as both of them understood what the other person meant.

They both just challenged.

Celaine face the front and was now ready to go.

"I'm ready."

"Alright! Let's go!"

Celaine and Elenei shot were about to take off when she heard Mira's voice in her ears.

"Don't disappoint me."