Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

A few minutes after Master Izaria left with Ryuu, Mira, and the others, a few middle-aged men appeared above the mine or what was left of it.

Their expressions changed when they saw that the entire thing was removed from the earth!

"An expert! A Divine Sea Realm expert was here! They're the only ones capable of such destruction!" One of them muttered and pulled out a Communication Talisman.

"Bad news, Faction Leader! Someone at the Divine Sea Realm raided one of our medium-sized Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine!"

"..."

Silence permeated the area, and the man gulped as sweat dripped down his face. He knew that when the normally talkative Faction Leader was silent, he was in a bad mood. And when someone at the Faction Leader's level is in a bad mood…

"...I understand. You can go. Leave the rest to me."

A calm, smooth voice resounded from the Talisman, which only made the man feel worse.

Subconsciously, he nodded and turned to the other men that came with him, "Let's go!"

On the other side of the Talisman, a man was gritting his teeth in anger. Although he didn't know who dared to steal from his Sects, his Faction, it wasn't that hard to guess.

There's no reason for any of the Unorthodox Sect Masters to do so. It could be the beasts, but he seriously doubted that a Rank 10 Beast would go through such trouble. So, that leaves either the Orthodox Faction.

"It seems the world has forgotten there's a reason the Unorthodox Faction is still alive today. I guess it's time I remind them."

The man got up and disappeared from his mountain.

***

In the Battle Maiden Sect, Aelina sat on her throne, staring at the woman before her with a light frown.

"I know I'm beautiful, Aelina, but I don't swing that way. I'm sorry." The woman said with a playful smile.

Aelina's frown deepened, but she ignored that comment, "Don't you think it's about time for you to leave, Lisica? I'm sure you're quite busy managing the Fox Clan and all."

Lisica's smile didn't waver as she stared back at Aelina, "Nonsense! What could be more important than meeting a potential Nine-Tailed Fox? I won't leave until I see her with my own eyes."

Aelina's eyes sharpened and a dangerous aura exuded from her body, shaking the mountain, "Do you believe my Sect is a place you can come and go as you like, Lisica? I already told you I have no idea what you're talking about. I would hate to have a falling out with your Fox Clan over some rumor."

This time it was Lisica's turn to narrow her eyes as she stared at Aelina, trying to discern whether she was telling the truth or not.

However, she couldn't comprehend anything from her facial expressions other than irritation and indifference.

'Tsk! This damn old woman is too good at hiding her intentions!' Lisica clicked her tongue as even though she was someone whose ability to judge a person should be unmatched, she still couldn't tell what Aelina was thinking.

Just as she was about to answer, she felt numerous fluctuations suddenly appear above the Sect, and she calmed down.

"It seems you have visitors."

Aelina's expression also returned to normal, but inwardly, she was cursing nine generations of Mira's ancestors.

'Why'd they have to show up now?'

She could also feel a somewhat familiar aura that was similar to hers.

'Don't tell me…!'

With a thought, she appeared before Mira and the others, but her attention wasn't on them.

"Long time no see, 'Sister' Aelina," Izaria stepped up and said.

Aelina visibly frowned as she stared at her, "...What are you doing here? And with my Sect's disciples, no less?"

"Hah! Not even a thank you to my disciple and me for saving them?! I'd expect nothing less from you!" Izaria snorted in disdain.

Question marks seemed to appear above Aelina's head. Nova, Eden, Seraphine, Everly, and even Rayna's faces twitched fiercely at Izaria's words, and they did their best not to look at Maria.

Aelina noticed this and became even more confused, "Explain."

"Hmph! You still don't understand? You tried to kill your poor Little Sister Maria and disciples by sending them on a death mission to raid a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine! Naturally, I couldn't let these weak little beauties suffer such a tragic fate, so my disciple, Ryuu, and I decided to step in and help! You're welcome!"

'Little Sister?' Aelina mused as she looked at Maria, whose cheeks turned slightly red, but she still managed to keep a straight face.

Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, and a giant smile couldn't help but appear on her face, and she burst out laughing.

"Pfft-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone stared at Aelina with astonished and bewildered expressions, but the person in question ignored their stares and kept laughing. She laughed so hard that small tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

'The Sect Master can laugh like that?!' Nova and the others were stunned, as they'd hardly ever seen her expression change, much less laugh.

It took a while for Aelina to calm down, but a smile never left her face. She then looked at Mira and Nova and asked, "Did you complete your mission?"

"Yes, Sect Master!"

The two nodded and tossed a few Spatial Rings at Aelina. Checking the contents and seeing them full of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, the smile on her face seemed to grow.

"Very good! You've all met, no, exceeded my expectations. I'll hear your comments later, but it seems you've all accepted Mira as a comrade and a potential competitor, right?" Aelina asked.

They nodded as they thought Mira did much better than they initially thought she would. Especially in the last Spirit Stone Mine. The fact that she went from being unable to last long against Nova in a spar to slaying a 1st Stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivator in just a month was mind-boggling.

If they said they didn't acknowledge her, they'd be lying.

"Good! It seems this mission was fruitful in more ways than one! Unfortunately, we won't be able to start the second stage of the competition, but we'll talk about that later. For now, go down and get some rest. I'm sure the last day or so has been quite exhausting." Aelina smiled and said.

They nodded, but just as they were about to go down, Master Izaria shouted, "Wait!"

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?! Why did you hand that wench so many Spatial Rings? Why aren't any of you mad at her for trying to kill you?!" Izaria shouted with a frown. Ever since Aelina started laughing, she's had a bad feeling, which only became worse the more she listened.

Before anyone could say anything, Maria spoke up while avoiding eye contact with Izaria, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister. We needed to steal one more Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine, but the Unorthodox Faction had already caught onto our movements. On the other hand, you looked so eager to show off your disciple that I couldn't help but give him a chance to shine. It was a win-win scenario!"

She turned to Ryuu and smiled, "By the way, you were very impressive, but MY Mira is already taken. So, you'll have to fluff someone else's tails."

Izaria and Ryuu's jaws dropped as they stared at Maria in disbelief. Even Aelina's eyes shone as she looked at Maria in a new light.

"You… You… You… You lied to me?! But didn't you say you hadn't met your quota and that you needed to raid at least one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine?!" Izaria pointed at Maria and subconsciously pressured her a bit.

However, Maria didn't back down, "I really didn't lie. We needed to raid 5, which is at least 1. And we really did only have three weeks left until our deadline. Everything else was just your misunderstanding."

After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear. After saying that, she went and hid behind Aelina as the pressure Izaria exuded was too much for her poor body to bear.

[A/N: Web glitched and duplicated the words and I can only delete up to 100 of them.]

"Hahaha! To think a junior would trick the high and mighty Izaria!" Aelina waved her hand, dismissing the pressure, and laughed.

"Shut up! How was I supposed to know?! She sounded so innocent and sincere!" Master Izaria's eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at Maria.

"Now, now. Let's calm down. Since you're here, why don't you and your disciple follow me back to the mountain? I can assure you that you won't regret it," Aelina said with a smile, then turned to Mira.

"Ah! You should follow me back as well. There's someone here waiting for you, and I'd rather you two meet under my supervision."