Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

After Mira finished breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, she stared at the ice hill in confusion.

'What's that for?' She wondered, refusing to believe that it was there without a purpose. Mira even thought that everything in her soul was of at least some importance, even the darkness.

'Whatever. I'll find out later.' She shrugged her shoulders and stopped worrying about it. She had other things to do, after all.

While she might have officially broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, she wasn't finished yet. Mira could still feel her body filling up with Qi, her scythe advancing to the next rank, Elenei sucking in large amounts of Qi, ice, and fire, and more.

The Qi vortex outside her body grew larger as she sucked in more and more Qi to provide enough energy for their advancement.

Her muscles, bones, and organs cracked and healed over and over again, filling up with Qi to become stronger. Her meridians grew wider, allowing for more high-quality Qi to pass through them, and her core expanded while also becoming denser.

Those weren't the only changes to her body, either!

Her tails also grew slightly longer, and the quality and quantity of the energy inside them increased. Though, it was hard for Mira to tell how much they'd improved by looking at them. The only one she could sense had a numerical, qualitative change that seemed much more significant than the rest was her golden tail.

However, that was because it was closely linked to her bodily strength.

Other than that, the most significant improvement from this breakthrough was her senses and perception. It was almost like they had evolved, something Mira didn't even know was possible as they were already heightened to an insane degree before this.

Mira sat cross-legged in the dimly lit cave, her eyes closed in concentration. The only sounds were the distant echo of a dripping stalactite and the rhythmic beating of her own heart.

Even with her eyes closed, Mira focused on her other senses. She inhaled deeply, taking in the damp, musty scent of the cave. The air was cool and crisp, but she could still feel the slightest breeze against her skin, telling her a small opening was nearby.

Mira reached out and touched the rocky surface of the cave wall beside her. It was rough and uneven, with small pebbles and gravel scattered around her. She ran her fingers over the rocks, feeling the texture and temperature of each one.

As she listened intently, Mira could hear the faint sound of water flowing somewhere in the distance. She imagined a small underground stream trickling over rocks and through narrow crevices.

She didn't even need her sight or Soul Sense to create this mental image, as the rest of her senses were more than enough. Hell, the result wouldn't be much different, even if she had lost all her other senses and could only hear.

'If someone can hide from me now, I'd have to give them a high-five or something.

The last improvements were to her soul and scythe.

Her soul had increased in size and filled with energy, creating a true Soul Sea. Through this energy, she could use the Nascent Soul Realm's most iconic ability, Soul Sense.

Lastly was her scythe, which had increased in size, sharpness, and durability. Although it was linked to her cultivation, technically making it a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm scythe, Mira considered it a Low-Stage Heaven-Grade weapon.

The hellish aura from her cultivation technique had also become more pronounced.

That was everything that breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm had improved. Or, at least, it was everything Mira could sense as of right now.

After a few minutes of basking in the pleasure of feeling her strength increase, Mira opened her eyes once she stopped advancing. She was about to get up, grab Rhydian, and go stir up trouble but paused and glanced upward.

The Qi cyclone hadn't dissipated yet. If anything, it had grown larger!

'What's going on?' Mira questioned, but soon, her eyes brightened when she realized who the cause of this was.

'Elenei!'

She sat back down and brought the egg out of her Soul Sea, allowing it to absorb Qi much more freely.

'Is she finally going to wake up?'

It's been a long time since Elenei had undergone Nirvana, and so many things have changed for Mira. While her cultivation had only increased by one major Realm since the last time they'd seen each other, Mira was much stronger than that.

If Mira were being honest, she missed having Elenei around. Out of all her companions and acquaintances, she was the most reliable.

The Qi cyclone grew larger as Elenei sucked in Qi as if her life depended on it.

If Mira were outside the cave right now, she'd understand that even with how dense the Qi was in the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Elenei was sucking in Qi from several kilometers away!

Naturally, the significant change in atmosphere alerted many people and beasts in the surrounding area of their position.

"A new treasure!"

"It's the birth of a new treasure!"

"What grade do you think it is?"

"With how much Qi it's absorbing, I'd have to assume it would be at least a Mystical-Grade treasure, but who knows?"

"Mystical-Grade?! I could ascend the Heavens in a single step with something like that!"

"That is if you can snatch it."

"..."

The same conversations happened between beasts and humans; anyone who sensed the anomaly called their friends to join them. Of course, they'd prefer it if they could obtain it themselves, but with how much of a commotion the 'treasure' caused, there's no way a fight wouldn't break out.

Thus, it was better to have backup.

Meanwhile, although Mira was dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away from these people, she could still sense them charging over. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but there were vibrations in the ground from every direction closing in on her position.

'It seems you're making quite the commotion, Elenei.' Mira gave the egg a sadistic smile.

'You really do understand me! I was just thinking about how I should test my new strength!'

*Crack!**Crack!**Crack!*

The egg rocked back and forth as cracks formed all over the shell, but Elenei failed to break out.

*Crack!**Crack!**CrACK!**CRACK!*

Elenei's attempts to break out became more fierce until she finally created a small hole in the shell.

A small, pitch-black beak appeared outside the hole, which immediately returned inside to continue breaking apart the rest of the shell.

This continued for a few seconds until Elenei created a big enough hole in the egg to break out!

*Swoosh!*

Mira's eyes widened as the creature that appeared in front of her was unlike anything she had seen, heard of, or expected!

'I thought Elenei would come back as a Phoenix, but…' Mira examined the creature in surprise and inwardly shook her head, 'It seems I underestimated the influence of her Dragon bloodline.'

'Though, it seems like her Nirvana was a success.'

The creature before her had a long, lithe serpentine body about the length of her arm. It had fiery red scales, blue crystals in the middle of them, and a silver outline, which shimmered even in the darkness.

The head looked like that of a Phoenix, with a sharp, hooked beak and fierce, piercing eyes that glowed with its inner fire.

Its wings, feathery like a Phoenix's, were a mix of crimson and icy white, creating a stark contrast against its scales. When it spread its wings, a burst of hot and cold air rushed out, creating a whirlwind of elemental power. Black ice crystals formed at the tips of each feather, releasing an ominous yet deadly light that threatened to consume everything in its wake.

While Elenei floated in the air, she left behind a trail of ice crystals and ash, different than what Mira would expect from a Frost-Fire Phoenix.

Also, whenever she opened her mouth, Mira could feel fire and ice elements rumbling in her throat, waiting to be released.

Its beak and talons were pitch-black and gave off an ominous yet familiar feeling, shocking Mira.

'Is that…? Why do I get the same feeling from those that I do from my black runes?'

However, she didn't have any time to think about that as she heard a cute, squeaky voice enter her mind.

"Mira! I did it! I did it! Hahahahaha! I FINALLY DID IT! Thank you! Thank you so much! I couldn't have evolved without you!"

Elenei circled around Mira like a little kid, emitting a radiant aura, indicating how happy she was.

Mira wasn't sure what to say to all this praise, so she just sat there with a neutral expression on her face. Though, if one looked closely, they'd see that the corners of her mouth had risen ever-so-slightly.

"Yeah. It's good to see you again, too, Elenei."