Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Silence reigned over the area as the young women questioned whether it was that easy.

Elder Sandra smirked when she saw their confused yet slightly hopeful expressions.

"Hehe~ Of course, things won't be that easy for you. You have exactly 24 hours to make it there."

The expressions of everyone present turned ecstatic except for a few that were skeptical of this whole thing.

"I know what you guys are thinking, and I'm sure that many of you can make it to the Outer Court in under an hour without too much trouble, but I assure you that it won't be that easy. Plus, to give you guys a bit of an incentive to fight each other, the top ten people with the most tokens will be able to request one thing from me. You name it, whether that be a technique, mentorship, resources, pills, or weapons. Of course, there's a limit to what I can hand out, but as long as you don't ask for anything outrageous, I'll do it."

Elder Sandra said with a sly smile causing the expressions of everyone to change. She glanced in Mira's direction, but because she was wearing a fox mask, she couldn't see her expression, though she felt like it was still one of indifference.

She looked at Mara, Celaine, and Asami, but even their expressions didn't change. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get much of a reaction from them, but she didn't care that much.

What she didn't know was it's not that Mira's group didn't care about the possible bonus reward, but it's just that they were quite good at controlling their emotions in situations like this. However, part of it is that they are quite ignorant of the possible rewards and wouldn't even know what to ask for, even if they could request anything.

For example, Mira would most likely ask for a Scythe Technique, but she also felt like that would be a waste since not only has she not mastered the basics of the scythe, but there are way better things she could ask for with such a request. She just didn't know what.

The same goes for both Maria and Celaine as well.

Well, except for Asami. She actually didn't care about the bonus reward.

"Alright! I think that's enough chit-chat! Just climb the mountain and reach the Outer Court within 24 hours. However, I'll give you a reminder before you let you go. You could lose your life during this test. I'll try to save you if you're about to die, but there are a lot of you, so I might not be able to make it fast enough. If you want to back out now, you're free to do so. Oh! Also, if I do have to save you, then you're disqualified."

Elder Sandra said before unleashing her Qi and wrapping it around all the young women below her.

"Your 24 hours start now! Happy hunting! Hehe~"

She chuckled before tossing them all randomly across the mountain's base.

***

Mira hurriedly got up after being thrown in some random direction and immediately began searching her surroundings. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with her surroundings, nor did she notice any people or beasts.

'I guess I'll just work my way up the mountain for now and deal with whatever comes my way.' Mira thought to herself before starting her trek up the mountain.

However, she didn't get very far before she felt a seal appear on her body. She quickly inspected the seal, and, surprisingly, she felt her strength being sapped away. It wasn't by much, maybe only .0001% of her total strength, but it was still able to seal her strength nonetheless.

Not even her unique body and Core could prevent this seal from sealing her strength.

After inspecting it for a minute, Mira knew that this must be part of the test, and since there wasn't anything she could do about the seal, she was forced to give up on trying to remove it and could only focus on making her way up the mountain.

She took a step up the mountain but stopped when she felt another tiny portion of her strength being sealed.

"So it's like that, huh? The farther we go up the mountain, the harder it gets and the slower we become. Not only that but there are likely beasts and traps along the way. That Elder also wanted us to fight each other to steal one another's tokens. Sigh… what a pain in the ass."

Mira didn't necessarily like getting her strength sealed, especially before she could even test out her limits after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.

"Whatever, this can also work out in my favor." Mira quickly formed a plan, albeit a sleazy one, and began making her way up the mountain.

She wasn't worried about this test at all. In fact, it could be said that, other than Maria and Celaine, she's probably the most confident among those who are participating in this Exam.

Right now, she guessed that many of the other participants were probably panicking or trying to rush up the mountain as fast as they could after realizing how difficult this might become in the later stages of the climb.

Well, it's not like Mira is much different. She, too, began charging up the mountain at a fast pace, but it wasn't out of fear of failing. No, she had something else in mind.

***

Just like Mira thought, the other participants were freaking out, knowing that the higher they climbed, the more strength they'll lose and the harder it would get.

One must remember that most people in this world only experience life as a normal mortal without any strength for a very short period of time throughout their life. They'll temper their bodies as kids, and when they fully develop, they'll break through to the Qi Condensation Realm.

So the amount of time they spend as a mortal without any strength is probably only a few years at the max.

It's only natural that they'd freak out a little once they come to the realization that they might not only have to climb a portion of the mountain in such a state, but they might also have to fight in such a state!

***

[A/N: Here's one bonus chapter for making it to the Top 25 of the Golden Ticket Rankings! Thank you guys so much for the support! I'm going to try and upload 3 chapters per day until this weekend as a thank you for all the gifts and support I received last month!]