Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

While Mira was going through trials and tribulations to reach the Core Formation Realm, her two companions, Maria and Celaine, had also undergone shocking changes in the last two years.

After Elenei dropped Mira off at Quake City nearly two years ago, she brought Maria and Celaine closer to the border between the Western Continent and the Ocean. Over there, according to what Sect Master Jane said, talents run amok, resources are abundant, and the atmospheric Qi is incredibly dense.

Of course, Mira didn't want to send them to a place that was too dangerous. They are still only Foundation Realm weaklings, after all.

However, they needed to find the resources required to build a Top-Tier Core in under two years, which can't be done in just any ordinary place. Only in places that are rich in resources can they find the necessary ingredients to break through!

Unfortunately, nobody in Mira's group knew much about this Mortal Cultivation World, so Elenei had to spend a decent chunk of time looking for places suitable for them.

Maria, for one, needed to find many Light related materials for her Core Formation Recipe. So, Elenei had to spend a while finding a place where the Light element is abundant.

Although it was a bit annoying, Elenei did end up finding a place that seemed promising. It may not have had an abundant amount of Light Element materials, but from what Elenei could tell, it at least had a few.

Of course, Elenei's 'few' isn't just a handful. No, she's talking about hundreds or even possibly thousands of various materials that contain the Light Element.

However, these items are quite spread out and are of varying ranks, so Maria would have not only to spend quite a while searching for what she needs, but she'll have to brave many dangers as well.

Luckily, having a Light Element affinity is quite rare among most races, meaning not very many people are that interested in these materials. To add to Maria's luck, even though items with a Light affinity are rare, they aren't overly expensive…

No, that's not quite right.

In general, they aren't that expensive, but the people who need them will pay large sums of money in order to procure them.

Anyways, after Elenei dropped off Maria in this seemingly random location, she didn't immediately charge off to start looking for the items she needed.

Hell, she doesn't even know what some of them look like! So, instead, she made her way to the nearest city to obtain the necessary information about where she was and what she needs.

Fortunately, Elenei wasn't completely heartless and told her the direction of the closest city.

Maria quickly made her way to the city, paid the entry fee, and learned that this city was called Peacemaker City.

Apparently, the reason for this name is that the city is a strategic outpost owned by the Mercenary Association, or so Maria was told.

From what she could see, it looked nothing like what she imagined a strategic outpost to look like. There weren't any military men patrolling the area, nor was there anything like a barracks.

On the outside, it looked just like a normal city; upon further research, that's exactly what it is.

This city, instead of being used as a stronghold in times of war, is placed where it is in case the surrounding sects ever go to war.

See, Peacemaker City is actually in the middle of several large Sects. Since the Mercenary Association technically owns the city, the Sects are forced to only engage in small skirmishes, bring their large-scale wars to faraway locations, or risk offending the Mercenary Association.

Hence, the name 'Peacemaker'.

However, just because this is a 'normal' city, there are a few strong members from the Mercenary Association stationed there just in case something does happen.

Maria was shocked by this discovery and wondered why the Mercenary Association wanted to prevent a war between the Sects. They should want a war to start between the Sects!

Although she was curious, Maria didn't really care either way. Whether the Mercenary Association wanted a war or not had nothing to do with her. She was only here to obtain the necessary materials to make a breakthrough. Coincidentally, after knowing a bit more about the Mercenary Association, she decided to join, just like Mira!

Unbeknownst to the two of them, this Branch of the Mercenary Association worked slightly differently than the one Mira joined. Mira's Branch allowed the Mercenaries access to the Mercenary Association's entire repository! The reason for this is to incite the greed in the mercenaries stationed there so they can complete the missions there at a much faster and more efficient rate.

However, the one Maria is at doesn't have such a thing. They still offer Contribution Points for completing missions, but you can't buy anything at the Mercenary Association Building. These Contribution Points are actually used as currency for everything in Peacemaker City. Of course, one can pay using Spirit Stones, but the prices will be slightly higher compared to paying with Contribution Points. It's not a lot, but when making large purchases or if you were to stay in the city for an extended period of time, the cost differences start to add up.

It could be said that nearly everyone in the city has some connection with the Mercenary Association.

After becoming a Mercenary, Maria began asking around about the place containing all of the Light Element resources, but she was shocked by what she heard.

That place is called Luminescent Ridge and is one of the Forbidden Zones around Peacemaker City. The reason it's a Forbidden Zone is because there are several Rank 7 beasts and even one Rank 8 beast residing there.

Although the Rank 7 and 8 beasts hardly make a move on humans weaker than themselves, that doesn't mean they won't attack if one encroaches on their territory.

Aside from the Rank 7 and 8 beasts, there is also an abundance of Rank 6 beasts, and one must be conscious of when they enter that place.

Learning of this, Maria frowned. She may be confident in her strength and can take on several Low and maybe even Mid-Stage Rank 6 beasts at a time, but anything more than that, and she's doomed.

She would certainly die if she were to charge into such a place recklessly. Even if she didn't die, she definitely wouldn't be able to obtain the items she required.

'It seems I'll need to form a team. But first, I'll gather some information on the items I need to break through according to my Core Formation Recipe.' Maria thought to herself and immediately searched for information regarding those items.

A few days later, Maria was able to find the necessary information and learned that she already had over half of the items she needed!

Although she was shocked, when she thought about it rationally, it made sense. Most of the items that her Core Formation Recipe called for were things she, Mira, and Elenei obtained in the Secret Realm.

Many of the items they obtained in the Secret Realm are things one might not come across in their entire life! Naturally, they'd be suitable for her Core Formation Recipe!

Elenei had also collected literal thousands of items of the Light element! Most of them weren't too useful to her and the rest of the group, but there were plenty of items that would make the various Powers of the Mortal Cultivation World drool in desire.

Unfortunately, despite knowing more about what she needs to break through, Maria doesn't know if she'll be able to find the items she doesn't currently have in her possession at Luminescent Ridge.

All she can do now is look for a team to travel into Luminescent Ridge with or hire some Mercenaries to protect her as she searches for the items she needs.

After plundering that Natural Formation, she can be considered quite wealthy, even by the standards of those with a higher cultivation base.

Thinking about it for a while, Maria decided to first look for a team who was already venturing in that direction. Even though she was wealthy, she didn't want to start spending that wealth immediately after getting it. Those Spirit Stones will be her cultivation resources for when she eventually breaks through into the Core Formation Realm!

Unsurprisingly, it seems like luck is on Maria's side as only a few days later, she caught word of a team taking a mission to kill one of the Rank 7 Beasts at Luminescent Ridge.

The team consisted of two Nascent Soul experts and 8 Core Formation Realm cultivators. There were four women and six men on the team, with one of the Nascent Soul experts being a woman.

Maria wasn't one to give up on such a heaven-sent opportunity and immediately asked them if they could take her along. Of course, they rejected her at first since she is merely a Foundation Realm weakling.

To convince them of her strength, Maria bet with them that if she could fight their weakest member head-on for 10 minutes, they'll allow her to join.

Naturally, their curiosity was aroused, and they agreed. Maria and the weakest person on their team began fighting soon after, and surprisingly, Maria was able to fight them head-on for 10 minutes.

The team was stunned, but they kept their word and allowed Maria to join them.