Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

On the way back, Leah kept trying to make sexual advances on Mira, but the latter wasn't paying her any mind.

Mira's mind was in a totally different place, thinking about how she could finally get this trial over with and start her breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm. She knew her power would rise exponentially once she broke through, and she had a feeling that this breakthrough would provide her with more benefits than she could possibly imagine.

It wasn't long before the two of them entered the Elven Kingdom, but Mira demanded that Leah take her to see the World Tree right away instead of resting.

Leah could only reluctantly agree even though she wished for them to do… other things.

The two made their way through a part of the Elven Kingdom that only the Queen was allowed access to.

After nearly 30 minutes of walking, they appeared in front of a large wooden door, but there was something unique about this door. For one, to Mira, it only looked like a standard wooden door. However, her intuition told her that this door was anything but ordinary.

For Leah, this door, although still wooden, had numerous intricate engravings. The engravings depicted scenes of Heaven, Hell, the Mortal World, and the World Tree itself.

Mira didn't know this, but this door would only appear if someone connected to the World Tree appeared next to it. In this case, Leah was the one connected to the World Tree, or at least she was given access to visit it directly; therefore, Mira was able to see the door, albeit not in its true form.

Luckily, Mira took the Guardian's advice when she started this trial, or she would've had to find a different way to reach the World Tree or find a World Tree Seed, which is nearly impossible.

However, unbeknownst to both of them, several other conditions must be met in order for this wooden door to appear. One of those conditions is that the one connected to the World Tree must come of their own free will.

Mira watched as Leah pulled out a small dagger, cut her palm, and dripped a bit of her blood on the door.

As soon as the blood fell, the surroundings went white, and before they could even process what was going on, they were already standing in a completely different place.

When Mira regained her sight, she was a bit surprised by what she saw. No, she didn't see some abnormally huge tree or anything like that.

Instead, she seemed to be in some sort of waiting room. She was sitting on a wooden chair, along with Leah, and in front of them stood a humanoid tree, about 3 meters tall.

Then, Mira heard an androgynous and somewhat mechanical voice come out of the humanoid.

"Welcome, visitor from afar. It seems you have come in hopes of acquiring one of my seeds. I must say, that's quite ambitious of you to covet one of my seeds. I'll have you know that in my entire existence, ever since I became what you mortals call a World Tree, only a few have ever asked for one of my seeds. And do you know what I tell them when these impudent mortals ask for something of mine? Something beyond their understanding?" The humanoid tree leaned in as if trying to intimidate Mira, but the latter's expression didn't change as she silently waited for the being in front of her to complete its speech.

"I told them… 'Sure! As long as you are worthy enough to hold one of my seeds. One of my offspring.' You see, me giving you a World Tree Seed is the equivalent of me saying that you are worthy of being the Master of a World Tree. Do you even know the importance of such a title and the responsibility that comes with it? Being the Master of the one that upholds the Heavens and connects to the Underworld? The one that supports all known life in the Universe? DO YOU?!"

At this point, Mira came to a sudden realization. She had entered a crossroads. With what this humanoid tree just said, she could determine that this is either a physical representation of the World Tree that she can easily comprehend and talk to or, at the very least, some sort of World Tree representative.

From the moment it entered, it seemed to already know about her and what she wanted, meaning it's been watching her ever since she entered this trial world. Then from its most recent words, it thinks that she intends to plant and grow herself a World Tree.

However, although Mira didn't know what the World Tree Seed is used for in the Core Formation Recipe, she knew that she wasn't going to be growing it. There won't be any 'Master-Servant' relationship when she uses it for her cultivation. It will just be hers.

What responsibility? What title? What Heavens and Underworld? What about supporting all life in the Universe?

She won't have to deal with any of that shit!

The most likely scenario is that the World Tree Seed's power is used to catalyze the growth of certain body parts when she breaks through.

Now, knowing this information, she has two choices. She can either say nothing and let this tree continue what it was saying, and then it'll probably say some shit like she has to earn its acknowledgment. Or, she tells it that she has no plans of growing her own World Tree and that she is using it for other means.

The first option is the safest but probably the longest route.

The second option is the most dangerous because the chances of the World Tree getting angry that she plans to use the seed for anything other than growing are fairly high, seeing how intense its reaction was by just describing how incredible it is.

She really wants to take a gamble with the second option, but the first option would pretty much guarantee she completed the trial. Of course, she'd still have to work hard to achieve it, but she's confident in her ability to overcome whatever this trial throws her.

However, the problem with taking the first option is that she doesn't know how much the time is dilated or if it even is at all.

For all she knows, she might only have around 66 days left both in the trial and outside of the trial. She might not have the time to spend years trying to prove herself in this trial! Although she doubts that there isn't any sort of time dilation, that's the problem with these trials. You don't know!

As soon as those thoughts entered her mind, she firmed her resolve and went with the second option!

"Actually, I have no intention of growing a World Tree Seed if I were to obtain one." As soon as Mira said this, the place went quiet.

Both the humanoid tree and Leah went silent as they stared at Mira in disbelief.

The humanoid tree felt the need to clear its ears as it couldn't believe what it had just heard.

"I'm sorry, what? Can you repeat that? Did you just say you don't plan on trying to grow a World Tree for yourself?" The humanoid tree asked in a severe tone, but it was also a bit amused by the sudden change of events.

In its long life, this is the first time it's ever encountered such a situation, and it also felt an emotion it hadn't felt in a very, very long time: Curiosity.

That's right! Curiosity! The World Tree was actually curious as to why Mira wanted a World Tree seed but didn't want to grow it.

"That's right! I don't intend on growing it. I don't want to be some Master of the Heavens or anything like that. Rather than creating and giving life, I'm far more suited to taking and destroying life. As for why I want the World Tree Seed. Well, I want to integrate it into my body, taking its power for myself so I can increase my strength and talent. And since I can't have a real World Tree, I can only settle for the seed of one. If I can't do it, then I'll die trying, but I won't settle for anything less than a World Tree Seed." Mira decided to be honest with the supposed World Tree. Well, it's not like she can straight up lie right in the World Tree's face. Even sprinkling a few lies with the truth would probably do her more harm than good.

It's also true that she would rather die than have some mediocre talent. Although she doesn't have any grand ambitions like wanting to rule the Immortal Realm or the Heavens or anything like that, she does need to be incredibly strong to get her revenge.

But more importantly, she doesn't want to suffer eternal damnation at the hands of the Firmament of Limitless Death and Infinite Life, and not forming her Core with that Core Formation Recipe is pretty much asking for that!

When Leah heard what Mira said, she was so flustered that she almost passed out on the spot! Not only did she have the guts to ask the World Tree for one of its seeds directly, but she also said something so blasphemous, like wanting to integrate its power into her body to use for herself!

'So fucking hot!!!!' Leah felt her body heating up, and the urge to pounce on Mira right here and now grew.

"Interesting…"