Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

After having a brief understanding of the Outer Court, Mira's group began walking around to get a feel for the Sect, but they quickly realized that the Outer Court is massive!! For a place located in the middle of a mountain, they thought that it'd be similar to a mountain village, but they were wrong. Completely wrong.

No, the Outer Court is more like an actual city than a mountain village, at least in terms of size, but this wasn't without reason. For one, the number of Trial Disciples and servants living in the Outer Court is immense, much larger than the number of Outer Court Disciples.

There are already tens of thousands of Outer Court Disciples, maybe more. So, it goes without saying that the number of Trial Disciples is probably somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.

With so many people living in the Outer Court, it has to be large, or else nobody would be able to live here.

Before learning more about the Battle Maiden Sect and the Outer Court, Mira was confused about why they allowed so many Trial Disciples in, but after receiving the Jade Slip and learning more about the inner workings of the Sect, she began to understand.

Part of the reason is because the Outer Court needs people to manpower and the disciples just aren't enough. Not only that, but the disciples are often too busy to even think about taking care of the Sect. Most of them are either on a mission, dueling, cultivating, learning a new technique, or practicing their side-occupation.

They don't have time to become assistants for others, make sure the Sect is clean, act as a receptionist for some places, or things of that nature.

However, that's not the only reason why the Sect allows its Disciples to take in their own Trial Disciples.

Another reason is to allow their Disciples to nurture their own force. This may seem quite dangerous and crazy to the other Sects, but the Battle Maiden Sect understands how important it is for their disciples to have a proper force underneath them.

It's for this reason that they've been able to reach their current status in the world, and it's also because of this that the other Sects don't mess with them unless necessary.

You simply never know if the person you offend has an army of people just waiting to kill you!

Lastly, taking in Trial Disciples allows the Battle Maiden Sect to find and nurture those who have the drive, ambition, and talent that they may have otherwise missed. Over the years, they've found that these Trial Disciples often show some of the most promise among their peers.

It's for these reasons that the Outer Court is massive. Well, there's that and the fact that battles, duels, arenas, testing facilities, and side occupation buildings are all over the place! If the place weren't so big, these kinds of things would definitely disrupt the other disciples who are either trying to cultivate or are meditating.

Although the Core Formation Realm might not be strong in the grand scheme of things, the amount of noise and destruction one can cause in this Realm is nothing to scoff at. All-out battles may be able to cause damage within the nearest few hundred meters!

Now, imagine thousands of fights happening every day or every few days. Nobody would be able to get anything done if the place wasn't so large!

Mira also figured that the Trial Disciples probably cleaned up these messes every day, but that's not important.

What was important was the responsibilities Trial Disciples have in the Sect. According to the information on the Jade Slip, Trial Disciples don't have many responsibilities like the disciples do, and most of what they are allowed to do are voluntary. However, they are able to earn Merit Points based on the tasks or missions they complete. With these Merit Points, they are able to purchase items from the Sect or access areas that are otherwise inaccessible to them.

But Mira was skeptical about that and felt like not all the information was there. For a Sect that is so competitive, hard-working, and united, it's impossible for them to allow these people to stay here rent-free without consequences yet enjoy the benefits that the Outer Court Disciples enjoy.

Although she wasn't sure, Mira felt like it was probably much more dangerous to be a Trial Disciple than it was to be an Outer Court Disciple. This was just what her intuition was telling her, and Mira has always trusted her intuition.

Still, that doesn't mean she won't bring Alicia and the others in with her. In fact, the more dangerous it was, the more Mira liked it. She didn't want to have an army full of burdens. She wanted them to be her arms and legs in the future. In order to be that, they needed to be strong.

Therefore, the more dangers they encounter and overcome, the stronger they'll be both mentally and physically.

Anyways, putting these thoughts aside, Mira found the Outer Court to be quite beautiful. The roads were clean and well taken care of, the buildings looked new yet had an ancient aura around them, and the whole place was enveloped with an aura of life and vigor.

Although Mira hadn't come across too many disciples by just walking around aimlessly, she could tell that the people here truly wanted to do everything in their power to get stronger and rise up the ranks.

Feeling all this, a small smile broke out on Mira's face.

'Ahhh~ Finally, a place where I can truly thrive.'

Mira didn't quite know why she thought that, but she knew that the more she learned about this place and the longer she stayed here, the more she liked it.

***

After walking around the Outer Court aimlessly for a few hours, Maria felt it was time they found a place for the residence.

"So, Mira, what kind of place do you want us to live in?" Maria turned to Mira and asked.

However, just when Mira was about to open her mouth, Maria frowned and yelled, "No! We are not living in a cave!"

Mira was bewildered for a second by Maria's sudden outburst before she unconsciously mumbled, "How'd you know I'd want to live in a cave…?"

"How could I not know?! For as long as I've known you, the place you've spent the most time in has to be a cave! I don't know what it is about you and caves, but I'm not living in one! I want to live in a real house. One with rooms and a proper bed, ventilation, and privacy!"

Mira didn't understand why Maria seemed so upset, but she had no intention of arguing with her.

It's true that she prefers to live in caves, but it's not that she doesn't like houses. She just finds living in caves to be much easier. She doesn't actually care where they live.

So, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Fine."

Maria smiled and began pulling Mira along to find a place where they could put their house!

***

A/N: I know this is a bit late, but here's the second bonus chapter for us reaching the Top 100 in the Power Stone Rankings. Thank you for all the support!