Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

An awkward silence hung in the air after Mira asked that question. It's not that Elenei didn't want to answer, it's just that she was too embarrassed. She, a Phoenix, a creature that could basically run amok in this mortal world unmatched, could not even make it to the other side of this continent.

After a few seconds, Elenei finally opened her mouth and said something that not only shocked Mira, but The Guardian who was watching over her was also slightly bemused.

"I…I'm…lost..."

…

Mira just stared at the Phoenix in silence as she truly didn't expect such an answer. She felt like she heard wrong, she felt like she just heard a Phoenix, a queen of the skies, say she was lost.

"What? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. For some reason, it sounded like you just said you were lost."

Elenei hung her head low in shame as she didn't expect this situation either.

"...I'm lost. I have no idea where we are at the moment."

Elenei then proceeded to explain to Mira how unlucky they were during their travels. From constant beast attacks to bandit attacks, to terrible weather, everything seemed to be hell-bent on making sure they didn't reach their destination.

Elenei then described that at one point during their journey, she felt like they entered a weird space but she didn't know what it was and since it wasn't hurting her, she put it to the back of her mind. She also said that she could keep traveling like nothing happened, but it was only after a few days of this happening did she feel that something was wrong, but she didn't know what it could be.

Mira asked a few questions such as if the scenery changed as she traveled or it repeated, but was shocked to find out that the scenery around her was constantly changing as she traveled so she ruled out that she was in some sort of loop.

She also thought they might be trapped in some type of Illusion Array, but unless such an array was made by someone at the peak of the mortal world, then Elenei wouldn't be affected by it and even then she would still know she was in some type of Illusion. That's just part of the benefits of being someone born from both a Dragon and a Phoenix. Even if her bloodlines are constantly fighting for control, she still isn't someone that ignorant mortals can confuse with their trashy Arrays.

But even with her vast knowledge and power, she still had no idea where they were or what happened to them. So, she just resorted to trying to find the escape whatever place she entered by constantly flying around.

That's when Mira heard a voice in her head.

"It seems like what you guys entered is a Natural Formation and it's an Illusion and Space type Formation. A pretty high-leveled one at that. Natural Formations are Formations that are naturally formed from Heaven and Earth. Trying to forcefully break through this Natural Formation would be impossible for the current you. No, even if you were 100 times stronger, you probably couldn't break this Natural Formation. Damn, you really are unlucky to be able to run into something like this so early on. However, there is one good thing about Natural Formations and that's that they hold various high level treasures!

"If you are able to locate these treasures then you and your friends would be set for a while. That's all the advice I'll give you. Whether or not you can survive this ordeal and leave with your pockets full of loot is up to you. Oh! But I will give you guys a little prize should you successfully leave within the next 2 weeks. I'll give your friends a Core Formation Recipe so they can form a Core that will only be a step or two below yours."

Mira tried to ask the Guardian a few questions, but she got no response so she quickly put that idiot out of her mind. However, her ears perked up at the thought of Maria and Celaine forming Top-Tier Cores. They naturally won't be as strong as hers, but they would at least allow them to keep up with her strength and progress as long as they worked hard.

Mira also didn't have much of a problem staying here for the next 2 weeks. The Battle Maiden Sect Entrance Exam was still a ways away and she didn't have to go about researching how to form a perfect Core.

However, that's only if they stayed here for a maximum of 2 weeks. If they were trapped in this place any longer than that, it wouldn't be worth it. Unfortunately, Mira's thoughts didn't matter because she didn't have much of a choice. She either worked on a way to get out of here or stayed trapped inside this Natural Formation.

"I think this is a Natural Formation that has Illusion and Spatial properties."

Mira finally voiced out her opinion, but her answer caused her 3 companions to look at her weirdly. Mira knew Maria and Celaine didn't even know what a Natural Formation was while Elenei was giving her a skeptical look. She knew what they were, but she'd need to run into an incredibly high-leveled one for her not to notice. Not to mention, they are incredibly rare. Most cultivators will never even run into one, much less hear of one in their entire lives! Also, how rare was a Natural Formation that had both Illusion and Spatial elements?? There might only be a few of such Formations in the entirety of the Mortal Realm! Not just a singular World, but the entire damn Realm!

If they really entered what Mira just suggested then they were basically f*cked! Sure, they could probably find more treasures than they can hold, but how would they even know what's real and what's not? If it really is a Formation with Illusion and Spatial elements then even if they put something inside their Spatial Ring, it could be that they just transferred the illusory object into their Spatial Ring and they wouldn't even be able to tell the difference until they leave this place!

They might spend their entire lives digging up fake treasures!!

However, Mira didn't seem to be done talking…

"Also, if we can break out of this Natural Formation in 2 weeks, I'll give you two, Maria and Celaine, something good. I'm sure you two want to form the best Cores possible for when you breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm. As long as we get out of here within the next 2 weeks, I'll be able to give you such a thing."

Maria and Celaine's eyes went from doubtful to sparkling with just a few words. They knew that whenever Mira spoke of such matters, she never lied. So they didn't doubt her for a second. If she said she had the recipe to form a Top-Tier Core then she had it. Soon, however, they wondered why Mira didn't just give it to them. Sure, she was usually extremely harsh, trained rigorously, and pushed them to their limits, often beat them for doing something wrong… hardly ever passed out rewards even if they did something outstanding... Nevermind, this was exactly how the usual Mira acted.

But they knew Mira would never hand out an award of this magnitude unless their object was equally as difficult.

It looked like they were in for a rough 2 weeks…

Meanwhile, Elenei almost fainted from shock when she heard Mira's goal of not only getting out of here in 2 weeks, but also giving them Top-Tier Core recipes!

She really wanted to give Mira a good beating!