Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

"Welcome to the Battle Maiden Sect's triennial Disciple Recruitment! You may call me Elder Sandra, and I'll be the Overseer of this year's Entrance Exam! I'm glad to see so many young and talented women this year. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way let's begin the recruitment!" Elder Sandra floated above everyone and announced.

"Alright! I'm sure most of you know what we are looking for in our disciples, but just in case you haven't done your homework, let me tell you. Here at the Battle Maiden Sect, we are looking for strong-willed and talented young women! You must have the drive to move forward in the face of any adversity and the talent to assist you along your journey!"

"However, although we're looking for talents, sometimes hard work can prevail over talent! That's why to become an Outer Court Disciple of our Sect, as long as you have the minimum required talent, we will accept you!"

Elder Sandra paused and took in everyone's expressions after she said that. She saw indifference, excitement, relief, caution, sadness, and various other expressions among the women present and smirked.

"BUT!! Our Sect doesn't accept useless people! If you are planning to enter the Sect, laze around, and slowly accumulate your strength while abusing your newfound authority, you're in for a rude awakening! With this Entrance Exam, we will filter out those who are useless and those who have the potential to rise to the top!"

"Now, for the first phase of the Entrance Exam, all you have to do is sit down and cultivate until I tell you to stop. We'll be using a large-scale array to test your talent. So, when you feel a strange energy wash over you and start examining your body, don't try to fight it! Alright, now you know what to do, so… START!"

Although Elder Sandra came off as overbearing and some of the women wanted to ask a few questions before the Entrance Exam actually began, they didn't dare to say anything now that she announced the start of the Exam. Instead, they all sat down and began cultivating.

Mira, Maria, and the others also sat down and began cultivating immediately after Elder Sandra said 'Start'.

As soon as she started cultivating, Mira felt a strange energy wash over her and started trying to examine her body, meridians, and core. She was confused for a second since it seemed like whatever the Sect was using to examine her talent was having a hard time doing so, but then she remembered that her new body was anything but ordinary.

In fact, at this point, she can't even be called a human anymore. So, of course, whatever was trying to examine her would have a hard time doing its job.

Mira inwardly sighed in relief and allowed the energy to find and examine her meridians, core, and body. Since she only felt it examining her Qi refining speed and nothing else, she wasn't worried about exposing herself.

This went on for about an hour before…

"STOP!!"

Elder Sandra commanded, and all the women cultivating immediately stopped.

"Phase one is now over! For those of you who passed the talent test, a small black token with a snowflake on it should have appeared in your right hand! If you have this token, come forward and prepare for the next phase of the Exam! As for those of you who failed the talent test… GET OUT!!"

After Elder Sandra said that, around 15% of the women who took the Talent Test were enraged!

"What's the meaning of this, Elder Sandra!? How did I fail the talent test?! On what basis are you examining our talent!?!"

"That's right!! I'm 33 years old and a Stage 2 Core Formation Realm cultivator! How is that not talented?!"

"If you wanted to get rid of some people, why go about doing it with this nonsensical test?! We demand an explanation!!"

Elder Sandra's face was turning crimson as her body trembled in anger. Finally, she couldn't hold in her rage anymore while listening to these ignorant peasants!

"YOU FUCKING TRASH!! You dare question me!!! ME?! You trash think you deserve an explanation from me?! Fine! Here's my explanation!! You have one minute to leave before I start dropping bodies!!"

Elder Sandra released her killing intent onto those who were complaining, causing them to shiver in fright. They no longer had the willpower to stay here and realized that they had made a huge mistake angering an Elder of the Sect and immediately ran off.

After a minute, all those who failed the talent test were gone, and all those who passed had moved forward.

Elder Sandra nodded and began examining the still large crowd of young women below her. There were a few that caught her eyes, but none that were too special. That is until she noticed Mira's group.

However, her eyes were drawn to Mira despite feeling that the girls around her were also extraordinary talents.

Mira raised her head when she noticed Elder Sandra staring at her, and her crimson eyes stared back into the Elders.

Elder Sandra was surprised by the pressure that Mira's gaze put on her mind, as that's not a look that someone in the Core Formation Realm should have. No, even those in the Nascent Soul Realm or Soul Formation Realm shouldn't have that sort of gaze.

Elder Sandra felt like those were the eyes of a deadly old monster instead of a young woman who had just entered the Cultivation world.

'Oh? Interesting. It seems the Outer Court will become quite rowdy when this woman and her little friends enter the Sect. I'll have to inform the other Elders and tell them to keep an eye out for this group of people.' Elder Sandra thought to herself before examining the others.

It only took her a few minutes to finish inspecting the young women below her.

"Congratulations to you all for passing the Talent Test, but you shouldn't be proud of this achievement. The requirements to pass this test are extremely low, considering we are one of the top Sects on the Continent. If it were any of the other Top Sects, I guarantee that at least 30 to 40% of you would've been disqualified. Like I said before, we value hard work and drive more than talent here at the Battle Maiden Sect. And that's what the next and final Phase of the Entrance Exam is supposed to test!"

"For your final test, you just have to climb this mountain until you reach the Outer Court of the Sect!"

***

Thank you to Nyviria for gifting me a Castle worth 15000 coins! I really appreciate the support! Here's a bonus chapter for supporting me!