Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

It took Huoyan a while to calm down, but when he did, he stared at Mira in amusement.

"So, you're saying that you aren't dead?" He chuckled again after saying that.

Mira nodded.

"And that you killed all the inhabitants of this hell and absorbed their souls?"

Mira nodded again.

"Then, I'm guessing you need me to die as well, considering you said I'm the final piece?"

"..."

Mira paused for a second, then hesitantly nodded.

Although she didn't want to provide all this information to a stranger, she didn't have much of a choice. Since the Gates of Heaven constantly attacked her, most of her power and vitality went into protecting and healing herself. She would lose if she were to fight Huoyan in her current state, even if they were equal in power.

However, they weren't equal in power.

Huoyan stood in the face of Heaven's wrath, almost completely unaffected! The other demons died as soon as she got within a few meters of her, but Huoyan was just a meter away yet took no damage! He even looked unconcerned about the fire and lightning falling from the sky.

That's when Mira remembered that the man literally came from within the depths of the volcano, yet he seemed perfectly fine!

'How is this possible? Isn't this place supposed to torture its victims? Why isn't he affected by it? Is it because his soul is abnormally tough?'

Mira was correct in thinking that. One of the reasons why Huoyan was unaffected by this place was because of his strong soul.

In terms of quantity, it was far beneath many Soul Transformation Realm cultivators and even below some talented Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. However, the quality was much higher than even most Ascension Realm experts! It might've even reached the strength of an Immortal by the time he died!

He would be fine if what killed him didn't come to this place. Eternally bored but alive.

"Kufufufufu~!" Huoyan stifled his chuckle but couldn't stop it from coming out.

"Are you seriously asking me to die for you so that you can absorb my soul?" The corners of his mouth lifted as if he was having fun with this situation.

Mira nodded once again.

"Alright! Sounds like fun! Kuhahaha!" Huoyan released a large smile and burst out laughing! Then, while he was bent over at the waist, he lifted one of his arms and threw a punch at the Gates of Heaven!

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!*

*DONG!*

Just that simple punch was like the beginning of the apocalypse! Hell shook from his might, and the Gates of Heaven trembled when the force behind his punch connected with it.

However, to nobody's surprise, he could not do any damage. Afterward, the gates paused their attack on Mira briefly before they locked onto Huoyan and began dropping lightning on his head.

Huoyan snorted in disdain and didn't try to stop it. The lightning hit his head unimpeded but fizzled out a second later as if it had struck a large rock!

The Heavens realized the futility of its actions and stopped attacking him with lightning.

Instead, Huoyan felt a tug on the chains that bound him and knew he was about to be dragged deep into the volcano.

He glanced up at the Gates of Heaven and punched out a few more times, causing cracks to form all over the ground and the gates to shake.

Feeling a stronger tug on the chains, Huoyan knew he couldn't stay up here much longer and turned to Mira. "I'll clear a path through the lava, so just follow me!"

Then, before the chains could forcefully drag him down, Huoyan jumped into the volcano and punched out with all four of his arms!

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Lava shot out of the sides of the volcano like a geyser, but in the center, a massive hole was created in the middle of it all!

"Let's go!"

Mira snapped out of her astonishment, quickly comprehended his words, and jumped into the volcano after him without hesitation.

There was nothing to think about in this situation. Since the man seemed to trust her enough to believe her, then she had to reciprocate that trust. It might be a bit out of character for her, and she could be wrong about him, but it was a risk she needed to take. Nor did she have time to think about it.

This chance might not come again. If she hesitated now, then she might actually fail this trial and never be able to break through!

Huoyan sensed Mira behind him and grinned.

'Good! Kufufuf! This is getting more and more interesting!' He thought while raising his fists again and punching the lava beneath him, creating a massive hole that led deep into the earth.

It took them about a minute for Huoyan to land at the bottom, and when he did, he snatched the falling Mira out of the air with one of his massive arms and pushed through even more lava.

Mira frowned at his touch, but she understood that he was trying to protect her by doing this.

The lava around her was almost the same intensity as the fire the Heavens attacked her with. If she tried to swim through it, it might really reduce her body to ash!

It took Huoyan another few minutes of swimming through lava and protecting Mira until they reached a small, empty cave without any lava. The chains of his body still tugged at him, indicating that he needed to go deeper underground, but he stood his ground, not allowing them to move him.

When they reached this point, he put Mira down but didn't stop walking and went deeper into the cave.

"You know," Huoyan spoke up now that he wasn't submerged in lava, "I had my speculations about this place ever since I was thrown here. I used to think, 'Is this really Hell? I thought it'd be hotter.', or 'Why is this place so small? And why are the Heavens so weak?' and also, 'Is this really the prison of the one who killed me?"

Mira listened carefully to Huoyan as she followed after him.

"You probably don't know, but the Heavens that struck me down were absolutely terrifying! It killed me with one strike, vaporizing my body before I could even think of fighting back! I, who had the strength of an immortal during my ascension, couldn't withstand a single attack from it! How crazy is that?!"

Mira nodded in agreement as that was insane but still stayed silent to allow him to finish his story.

"However, you saw what happened just now. I smacked the Gates of Heaven, and its retaliation did nothing to me. How could something that could kill me at my strongest not do any damage to me at my weakest?"

"I used to think that maybe I just got placed in the Hell for those in the Mortal Realm and that there's a separate Hell for people that have become Immortal. I hadn't truly ascended to Immortality yet, so it technically wouldn't be wrong for that to happen, but still, even the Mortal Realm Heavens shouldn't be so weak that it couldn't hurt me. It's an Absolute entity for a reason. But I stopped thinking about it after a while, as it didn't matter. I was still stuck here, regardless."

Huoyan glanced back at Mira while carving out a path through the cave, creating his own tunnel, "However, those thoughts resurfaced when you appeared before me. And when you said you had reached here with the help of a treasure, something clicked inside my brain."

"I knew that this place wasn't Hell, and those Gates of Heaven weren't the Heavens I knew. The Heavens I knew would've eradicated your existence on sight as soon as you trespassed into Hell!"

Mira was surprised by his words as he hit the nail on the head, but her expression remained neutral. She already knew this wasn't Hell, and those weren't the Heavens.

'This is just a Secret Realm meant to imitate Hell!' Mira thought but let the Ashura finish his monologue.

"So, if this isn't Hell, and since you said that you came here with the help of a treasure, then it can only mean that this place is either another world similar to Hell or it's a Secret Realm that was made to imitate Hell!"

Mira's expression almost slipped as she looked at Huoyan in amazement!

'This brute of a man actually has such brains?? I never would've guessed.' Mira thought.

"I don't know how I ended up here, but now I think I understand the reason." Huoyan pounded on the wall in front of him, extending the tunnel even further, "I was thrown in this prison to be used as fodder for your growth!"

The Ashura raised his four arms and slammed them into the wall again, except this time, a small grey room revealed itself on the other side, and inside it was a watermelon-sized white core, constantly pulsating with power!