Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

What Mira had just taken out of her Storage Space was an herb Aelina gave her when she informed her about the Infinity Garden. Not just any herb, but a Divine Grade herb!

After sitting in the Infinity Garden for a while, all the resources Aelina gave her have matured and reproduced. The same goes for the Divine Grade herbs.

Usually, Mira wouldn't hand over something so precious as a thank-you gift, but Ryuu had really helped her out this time. If it weren't for him, she doubted she'd be able to get herself under control within a week. Thus, she would've ended up turning into a crazed, murderous demon who would kill anything that moved before eventually getting put down by someone much stronger than her.

So, it was safe to say that Ryuu not only saved her life, along with countless others, but also helped her improve her control over her mind and body.

Still, Mira wouldn't willingly hand over a Divine Grade herb for no reason if it was just that.

That's where her request to spar with Ryuu came into play!

He was the only one she knew who had reached the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment, [Manifestation]. If she wanted to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm as fast as possible, then she needed to learn from someone who had already entered that Realm.

For that, she felt like a Divine Grade herb was worth the price, especially considering it wasn't hers to begin with.

"A-A-Are you sure you want to hand over this Divine Soul-Rending Lotus?" Master Izaria said in a trembling voice. She stared at Mira with eyes full of emotion, no longer looking at her as her disciple's potential mate but instead as a big fat sheep!

One had to know that the Soul-Rending Lotus was perfect for those in the Divine Sea Realm.

The Divine Sea Realm focuses on three aspects: Qi purity and quantity, Bodily Strength and Harmonization, and Soul Strength/Dao Comprehension. However, that's not the end of it.

By this point in one's cultivation journey, one's foundation is already set, and now it's time to connect and enlarge one's containers, the Core, Body, and Soul, and turn them into a sea of power. A Divine Sea.

However, once all three centers of power are linked, one won't be able to progress until one strengthens all of them simultaneously.

Now, what's often seen as the most challenging center of power to cultivate?

That's right, the soul!

To do so, one must not only further their Dao comprehension, but one needs to increase the size and quality of the soul to handle that power! In the Nascent Soul Realm, this is done by using Qi, like in the previous Realms.

The Soul Transformation Realm is more complicated and unique than any other Realm in the entire Mortal Cultivation System. It's all about transforming one's soul into a manifestation of their Dao rather than quantity and quality. That's not to say those aspects aren't important, but they are only secondary.

However, the Divine Sea Realm is different. Everything in this Realm matters! Especially the Soul!

It's the last Realm in the entire Mortal Cultivation System that directly deals with the soul. While it might not be the only thing, an increase in soul strength is the primary factor in progressing in the Divine Sea Realm.

It's just that anything that involves the soul is usually very intricate and delicate. One mistake, and you might become braindead or lose your life.

That's where the help of Divine-Grade resources that impact the soul comes into play! These can increase the pace of progression and reduce the risk of injury or death!

However, that doesn't mean that Divine Grade resources are completely safe.

The Soul-Rending Lotus is no different. If one doesn't have the entire plant and only the bulb or the leaves, it could be a lethal weapon rather than a precious resource!

Eating the leaves on the Soul-Rending Lotus cause one's soul to expand, but in the process of doing so, rips and tears spread across one's soul. On the other hand, eating the bulb will mend those tears, permanently increasing the size and quality of one's soul.

As long as one has the other aspects of the Divine Sea Realm complete, making a breakthrough by using this herb isn't uncommon.

That's why Master Izaria was so excited! If used correctly, she might be able to break through a minor Realm within the next few years, saving her centuries of boring cultivation!

"Mhmm," Mira nodded, "I need to reach the [Manifestation] Realm for my scythe, and Ryuu is the only one I know who can assist me with that. That herb should be enough to cover the effort spent to save my life and teach me more about the 2nd Realm of Weapon Endowment."

"Hm?" Izaria's smile faded, and she stared at Mira with a serious expression, as did Ryuu's.

This was a request neither of them was expecting.

"Why do you need to reach the [Manifestion] Realm?" Ryuu asked. He knew Mira wouldn't ask for something like this without reason.

"My Cultivation Technique is a bit special," Mira replied, not giving away too much, but enough for them to understand the reason why.

Just like she suspected, the two immediately formed their own conclusions.

'She's at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, and I can feel she's right on the cusp of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm. In fact, with her talent, I wondered why she hadn't broken through yet. This explains a lot!' Master Izaria thought.

While cultivation techniques heavily reliant on a weapon, affinity, or something else to break through the next Realm are undoubtedly rare, they aren't that uncommon. Master Izaria had even heard of some that shape one's soul after their weapon or element.

In fact, Ryuu's cultivation technique was similar to that, and if her guess was correct, it wasn't too different from Mira's either.

Their expressions eased a bit, and they both nodded.

"I see. No wonder you made such a request," Master Izaria said, then turned to Ryuu, "Well, it's up to you. I'll return the Divine Grade herb if you don't want to teach her about the next Realm of Weapon Endowment."

Ryuu pondered for a moment, but it didn't take long to find an answer, "I'll do it! I'll try and help her reach the [Manifestation] Realm!"

"Oh?" Master Izaria raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?"

"Well," Ryuu scratched the side of his cheeks and turned to Mira, "I just have a feeling that she'd reach that Realm anyways. If that's the case, then we might as well help her and earn ourselves a Divine Grade Herb." He felt a little uncomfortable accepting such a thing from Mira, as it made them seem like they weren't friends, but a Divine Grade herb was a Divine Grade herb.

He'd be a fool to reject one that was essentially handed to him!

Master Izaria chuckled and agreed with his observation. From what she'd seen when they fought not long ago, Mira wasn't that far away from the [Manifestation] Realm. If that's the case, they might as well make a profit while they still can.

Seeing that they'd made their decision, Mira took out her scythe and got in a battle-ready position, "Now that you've made your choice, take out your weapon, and let's fight!" Mira said, her eyes sharpening!

Ryuu felt a chill run down his spine and hurriedly raised his hands, "Stop! Stop! Can't you see that I still haven't recovered from the fight we had a few days ago?!"

Mira stared at Ryuu with a look that said, "So?"

Understanding that he wasn't getting through to Mira like this, he decided to change tactics and instead explained, "Look, we don't need to fight right now. First, I need to teach you about the [Manifestation] Realm before we spar, or else we're going to be here forever, with you trying to learn everything by yourself."

Mira found his words reasonable and slowly lowered her scythe, "Alright, we'll do as you say."

She still had things to do, so the less time she spent here, the better.

Ryuu breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. It's not that he was afraid to fight her, but he had just finished a life-or-death battle with her a few days ago, one in which he could've died.

He still hadn't gotten the image of demon Mira trying to kill him out of his mind yet, so if they were to spar now, he might treat it as a real life-and-death battle.

'Besides that, Mira is too stressful to spar against! She never bothers to hold back and even acts like she's trying to kill me! If I can avoid a fight with this crazy woman, then I will.' Ryuu thought but was interrupted by his Master.

"Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere? I can feel a few people converging on this location."

Both Ryuu and Mira nodded.

Master Izaria snapped her fingers, and Ryuu, Mira, and Rhydian all disappeared.