Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

While the other disciples stared at Mira in shock, Aelina tilted her head and thought about her plan.

'Although there are many holes and inconsistencies, I suppose it's feasible. That is, if everyone works together perfectly. Otherwise, they'd die before they could even begin the mission!' Aelina thought.

"You know that a Late Heaven-Grade item is nothing in front of someone at the Mortal Shedding Realm, right? A Suppression Array at that grade wouldn't hold him down for more than a second, and the effects would be minimal."

Mira nodded her head at Aelina's words.

"Yeah, I know, but a second is all we need."

Mira's words were short, but the meaning was clear, and everyone here understood what she was trying to say.

"Hmm~ I guess you're not wrong, but can you actually place so much trust in people you've barely met?" Aelina asked with an amused smile.

Mira turned her gaze toward Eden, Seraphine, Everly, Rayna, and then stopped on Nova.

"Truthfully, I don't know, nor do I think I'm qualified to say anything about this matter. After all, I've never experienced the might of a Mortal Shedding Realm expert." Mira wished she could say she could trust Nova, but she didn't think the girl alone could take on someone almost an entire Realm higher than her.

The others frowned at her words, but they weren't so narrow-minded that they'd get upset over something so petty as they felt the same way as Mira.

They were reluctant to put their trust in someone two whole major Realms below them, and rightfully so. Still, since the Sect Master pushed this mission onto them, they had no choice but to comply.

Nova stepped forward, her eyes never leaving Mira's body, "If you really have a way to lure their Elder out, I'm confident we can kill a Mortal Shedding Realm Elder." She puffed her chest and said confidently.

Eden, Everly, Rayna, and Seraphine nodded at Nova's words as they had complete confidence in taking a weakened Unorthodox Faction Elder. It might be a different story if they had to kill an Orthodox Faction Elder individually; they are stronger than those from the opposing faction.

The reason behind their confidence?

The technique that Aelina gave them a month ago! It was just that great! Also, it's not like they didn't prepare other things as a last resort, either. It would be foolish of them to think they could steamroll their opponents without issue.

Mira nodded at Nova's statement with a smirk, "Don't worry. I have a 'technique' that is guaranteed to get their attention."

Aelina, Nova, and everyone else lifted an eyebrow at Mira's declaration, and they couldn't help but be curious.

"Oh? What is it? It's fine if you don't want to tell us, but if we follow your plan, we should at least know what you're going to do." This time, it was Eden who asked.

Mira nodded and turned her head. Everyone followed her gaze and instantly became curious.

'Why is she looking at the Sect Master?'

Aelina was amused by the situation and just let Mira do whatever she wanted.

"Just a little warning, but I'd like you all to remember that I have no intention of killing any of you," Mira warned, inciting their interest even more.

A crimson light swirled in Mira's eyes as she gathered all her killing intent into them. Then, without warning, a tangible bloodthirsty aura exuded from Mira's eyes!

*DOOOOOM!*

*Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!**Shing!*

Nova and the other disciples drew their weapons and jumped away from Mira while Aelina narrowed her eyes, and subconsciously, a short sword appeared in her hands.

Maria was the only one who didn't make any large movements as she was somewhat used to Mira's killing intent, but if one looked closely, one could still see her body trembling from the horrid, bloody pressure.

However, soon, Mira recalled the pressure, and everyone's chest and shoulders fell as they released a sigh of relief. The Sect Master was perhaps the only one who could stay calm in this situation, but even she couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation in her heart.

Mira's killing intent was just too intense.

Afterward, she turned to Eden and said with a slightly sadistic smile, "See? If that doesn't get someone's attention, I don't know what will. Look! Even Sect Master Aelina was affected!"

Eden gulped and subconsciously nodded. She was still reeling in from the shock of going to hell and back, so she wasn't sure what to say at the moment.

However, the ways she looked at Mira changed completely. If before she mostly regarded her with indifference, now she looked at her wearily with hints of fear. In fact, that was the case for all the disciples.

The only exception was Rayna, who tilted her head and looked at her with a gaze filled with caution and admiration.

'How is she concealing that much killing intent without losing her mind?' She couldn't even imagine how Mira was able to stay sane!

Not many people knew this, but Rayna has killed more than almost every younger generation disciple and even some Elders. Unlike most Battle Maiden Sect disciples who are trained to be warriors, Rayna was brought up and trained to be a killer.

Even before she joined the Sect, she was already someone with a lot of blood on her hands. When Rayna entered the Sect, killing was the only thing she knew and was good at, so she continued further down that path.

So, she, more than anyone, can understand that if one's mentality isn't stable enough, the burden of all the lives they've taken will start to affect the mind.

'But how many beings has she killed? Millions? Billions? Is what she showed us even everything? How can someone so young bear that burden? No, how can someone so young even kill that many people?!'

Rayna wasn't the only one who had these questions, as Aelina also looked at Mira suspiciously, but unlike a little girl under 100, she had vastly more worldly experience.

'Does this girl cultivate a secret technique to enhance her killing intent? Or maybe she's just killed droves of mortals?' Aelina shook her head at that last question. If something like that happened, she'd know about it.

'Then, is she an old soul that's taken over a young body?'

That guess didn't make much sense either because Mira's knowledge of cultivation and the way she uses Qi are reminiscent of a noobie. On the other hand, Mira's gaze, manner of speech, battle experience, killing intent, and aura all resemble someone with many years under their belt.

In the end, Aelina didn't care enough to search for answers and stopped thinking about it. Even if Mira wasn't the original owner of that body, she could tell that Mira was a fairly honest person and that she came to the Battle Maiden Sect to gain knowledge and experience, not for nefarious schemes.

She had absolute trust in her ability to gauge someone's character, and even if she didn't know everything about Mira, she could tell that, at the very least, her words had weight.

'It's none of my business,' She shrugged her shoulders, and an amusedly mysterious smile returned on her face.

"You startled me for a second there, Mira, but I can guarantee that if you direct that kind of murderous intent at someone, you will certainly catch their attention, no matter their strength," Aelina said, and everyone nodded.

'Only a dead person wouldn't react to something like that!' Nova and the other disciples thought inwardly.

"Alright, it seems you all have actually put a little bit of thought into this mission, but I will warn you that Mortal Shedding Realm experts aren't as simple as you make them out to be. You'll surely die if you can't kill them in one blow. So, if you try to ambush them, be sure to go all out from the beginning." Aelina said sternly.

Mira and the others nodded with narrowed eyes as they knew that the Cultivation Realms after the Core Formation Realm weren't just a matter of having more Qi. Regardless of their faction, someone who can make it to such a Realm is to be respected.

Then, Aelina took out seven jade slips and passed them to Mira and the disciples.

"Here, you'll find all the up-to-date information on the Spirit Stone mines you're going to invade. Feel free to start in whatever order and follow whatever plan you want, but remember, you only have a month to complete the mission."

With that said, Aelina turned around, ready to leave, before she stopped and gave them one last reminder.

"I'll give you one last piece of advice before you go. Try and complete this mission as soon as possible. Don't take unnecessary breaks."

After saying that, Aelina disappeared, leaving Mira and the others to ponder her words, but only a few actually understood what she meant.