Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Maria instantly hit it off with her new team, but that's not surprising. Maria is charismatic, attractive, strong, kind, and enjoyable to be around. Even in this world where people will kill their own mothers for cultivation resources, it's hard not to like Maria.

Naturally, the guys in the group had no issues with her other than her cultivation. However, this was also a good thing after they thought about it some more. They'd be able to show off their manly and righteous side if they were to protect Maria from danger. Then who knows, Maria might start taking an interest in one of them…

The women weren't annoyed by Maria's presence either. In terms of beauty, although they might not be quite as radiant as Maria, they are still beauties in their own right. They are also stronger, have better gear, possibly higher status, and are richer than Maria. Why would they be jealous?

The only thing the team wished to know was Maria's background, but she never revealed anything to them, only saying that she wished to breakthrough so she could join the Battle Maiden Sect.

That's something Mira told her to say because if people knew she was born in some backwaters town in the middle of nowhere, people might try to force her into things that she didn't want to do.

The team didn't probe any further since it seemed Maria didn't want to talk about it.

A few days later, after the team finished their preparations, Maria and the others finally made their way toward Luminescent Ridge. Maria was excited to start a new adventure, and although she missed Mira, she was glad she could experience something like this.

It didn't take them long to make it to Luminescent Ridge, and Maria immediately began searching for any Light element items.

The group wanted her to stay close, but Maria just waved them off and continued going about her business. How could she just hide in the middle of their group when she came here specifically to search for items needed for her breakthrough? She's not weak either and can take care of herself as long as the opponent isn't too many stages above her.

Plus, she only asked to follow them as a way to ward off the truly strong beasts in this area. As long as she's not too far away, she should be fine.

Luckily, before the team even encountered the Rank 7 beast they wanted to kill, Maria was actually able to find one of the ingredients needed to form her core!

Maria wasn't satisfied with just this, though, and wanted more! She knew that when Mira eventually breaks through, she'll be crazy strong! She might be able to keep up if she breaks through according to the Core Formation Recipe, but she wanted to form her Core as soon as possible so she can get a headstart over Mira!

Time went on as Maria and the team made their way towards the den of the Rank 7 beast, and it wasn't until a few days later that they eventually arrived in its territory.

Maria knew she wasn't going to be of much help and decided to stay away from the fight so as not to become a burden, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to watch from afar.

She wanted to understand the true power of Rank 7 beasts and Nascent Soul experts!

However, a few hours later, she was left somewhat disappointed.

Sure, the battle was fearsome, and the destruction was massive, but there wasn't anything special. Or maybe she was just too used to Mira's way of fighting, that watching people who had no real skills and only a bunch of power only looked lackluster in her eyes.

Mira may be brutal in her attacks and likes to confront her enemies head-on, but to Maria, it's quite elegant. She's able to read her opponents like an open book, adapt to their strengths, learn their weaknesses, and end it all in a single strike.

It's truly beautiful and amazing to watch.

This team, however, just kept launching abilities and whacking at it until it eventually died. Sure, they did try to make use of its weaknesses, but it's not like a Rank 7 beast is braindead. They can understand their own weaknesses and can make accommodations for them.

In the end, it turned into a battle of attrition, and Maria's team ended up winning with only some light to medium injuries.

However, this did open her eyes to how many people in this world fight. Most of them seem to rely more on brute strength than anything else. Although their techniques and weapon arts were quite powerful, Maria didn't think it was because of the techniques specifically, but instead the user's power that made the techniques strong.

Maria also noticed that it seems like most people tend to specialize in a single fighting style. For example, there are five ranged and five close-ranged attackers in the team she's following.

However, Mira always taught her to be flexible in her attacks. She must know how to attack from afar and up close so she never falls to a disadvantage.

Suddenly, as they were looting the dead Rank 7 beast's body and lair, Maria sensed something.

It wasn't an attack, beast, or another human; instead, it was the same feeling she got when there was a treasure nearby.

Maria let her teammates know that she was going to search the area, and although they were against it, Maria had already left the vicinity.

She followed her instincts and ran in the direction of the lucky chance. When she closed in on it, she felt not only her instincts flare but her Light Dao as well.

It seems she may have sensed something that could be incredibly beneficial to her cultivation and Light Dao comprehension!

After a few hours of running, Maria felt like she had passed through some sort of barrier, then all of a sudden a golden staircase made of clouds descended in front of her!

She was about to start charging up the stairs but heard a feminine voice appear in her mind when she neared the staircase.

"Make it up the stairs and gain the qualifications to become a candidate for my inheritance! Beware! You could lose your life on these stairs if you aren't worthy or don't possess an affinity toward the Light Element!"

Maria was shocked that she actually stepped inside some sort of inheritance, but she was also excited!

'If I can gain this inheritance, maybe I won't be so far behind Mira in the future!'

Those were her thoughts, but little did she know that Mira's inheritance trials were far more terrifying than she could've ever imagined. Although Mira did share a few of her experiences with them, she didn't go into full detail.

For one, when it came to the 'staircase', Mira wasn't even given a choice. She either did it or faced eternal damnation!

At least here, whoever the owner of this inheritance is was kind enough to warn her of the dangers and even told her that she entered an inheritance space! Mira didn't even know she would get anything! All she knew was that if she gave up, she would die!

It could be said that just based on these facts alone, the quality of Mira's inheritance vastly outclasses the one Maria just entered. After all, danger often coincides with fortune in the Cultivation World.

However, that's not always the case, so for now, Maria can only make her way up the stairs, do her best to gain the qualifications for the trials, and try to gain the full inheritance!

So that's exactly what she did. She began making her way up the golden staircase, hoping to become this inheritance's successor.

As Maria went up the staircase, at first, she didn't know what it was trying to test. There wasn't any pressure, nor did she feel anything invade her body. In fact, Maria felt increasingly more peaceful the farther up she walked.

Time continued to pass, and slowly, Maria entered a state of enlightenment. As soon as that happened, her surroundings began to change. One moment, the surroundings were a vast night sky filled with stars, then it would change to a golden sun! Afterward, the scenery would shift to a black hole sucking in all the surrounding light!

Essentially, anything that has to do with the Light element, its uses, its effects, its weaknesses, and how it appears in nature all flashed through Maria's head.

She had no idea what most of these scenes even were or what they meant, but she tried to make the most of what was shone. At the very least, even if she failed, she wanted to increase her comprehension of her Light Dao.

Luckily, that's the point of this test; it's to test her comprehension ability and natural affinity towards the Light Element.