Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

On another side of the mountain, Celaine was charging up the mountain just like the rest of the disciples, but similar to Mira, she had no fear on her face. On the contrary, she looked incredibly calm.

Well, that's a given since even if her strength is sealed, her Saber Intent can't be sealed so easily. Intent is the materialization of one's comprehension and is related to one's mind and, on a deeper level, one's soul. So, if the Battle Maiden Sect wanted to seal her Saber Intent along with her cultivation, they'd need to place a seal on her mind and soul.

However, they'd probably never go so far as to do that, as creating such seals is not only complicated and expensive, but it's also dangerous to implant such a seal on someone. It might not be dangerous if Celaine was in the Nascent Soul Realm or the Soul Transformation Realm, where her soul is stronger than what it is currently, but right now, she's too weak to handle a seal like that without facing some sort of backlash.

The Sect can only say that it's Celaine's good luck that they chose this way of testing the new disciples this year.

Unfortunately, Saber Intent doesn't exactly increase the strength of her body or Qi, so Celaine is still going to have a bit of trouble climbing the mountain.

Her Saber Intent will only come in handy when she's forced to fight someone or something.

Not long after Celaine began climbing the mountain, a Mid-Stage Rank 5 beast popped out of the bushes beside her.

She scoffed that such a weak beast dared to confront her. She pointed her finger in its direction and then launched a thin stream of Saber Intent in its direction.

*Splat!*

The beast's body turned into a blood mist when Celaine's Saber Intent came in contact with it. Even though she tried to control the output of her Saber Intent so that it would only make a small hole in its head, the beast's body was too weak even to withstand such a minuscule amount of intent.

***

From above, Elder Sandra felt something that she's only felt a few times throughout her long life coming from one of the young women climbing the mountain.

She immediately sped off and quickly reached the area where a pretty green-haired young lady was at. She saw her point her finger at a beast and unleash a semi-transparent, sharp, and domineering…

'INTENT?! Has this little girl comprehended Intent already?!'

If her conjecture was right, this Entrance Exam might end up being conquered by a single person!!

So, despite it being against the rules, Elder Sandra flew down and landed in front of Celaine, surprising the poor girl.

"Hey! What was that just now? Was that Intent?" Elder Sandra looked into Celaine's eyes and asked, no, ordered her to answer.

Celaine stared at the Elder in surprise and took a few seconds to regain her bearings before answering, "Yes, Elder Sandra. That was my Saber Intent."

She tried to answer as calmly as she could, but one could see her body shaking due to the pressure Elder Sandra was releasing.

"Show me!" Elder Sandra ordered again.

Celaine nodded, opened her palm, and created a small semi-transparent saber with her Intent.

Elder Sandra's eyes opened wide as she was able to confirm that it truly was Saber Intent! A little girl who probably wasn't even 30 was able to comprehend Saber Intent!! How amazing!!

"Hahahaha! It really is Intent! Amazing! Girl, tell me your name! I'd like to take you in as my disciple! If you become my disciple, you'll immediately rise to the position of being a Direct Disciple, one of the highest positions in the Sect! You'll have everything you could ever want! I'll provide money, treasures, techniques, resources, whatever you want! What do you say? " Elder Sandra laughed and immediately offered Celaine an apprenticeship.

Now, it was Celaine's turn to become shocked. She stared at the powerful middle-aged woman in front of her with a dumbfounded look on her face. Celaine's expression, much like Mira's, rarely changes, and she's able to keep her cool in almost every scenario due to Mira's training, but now she felt like all that training has become useless.

Elder Sandra didn't say anything and patiently waited for Celaine to answer as she knew that this probably came as a shock to the girl.

It took Celaine almost a full minute before she regained her composure, and she began to consider Elder Sandra's proposal seriously. If she's being completely honest, she never intended to accept someone as a master. Even more so after she broke through to the Core Formation Realm.

Now that her cultivation talent has skyrocketed, she doesn't have to put all of her energy into cultivation and can spread out her time to keep learning more about the Saber.

With her saber talent, she felt that she wouldn't need someone else's help as long as she worked hard enough. Quite the contrary, she felt it might be detrimental to her progress if she didn't figure things out herself.

She didn't need a new cultivation technique as the one she has right now is perfect for her. Resources will come once she joins the Sect. The only thing she felt might actually be useful in becoming this Elder's disciple are the Techniques and Treasures she'll have access to. Well, she might be given access to special hidden Realms or locations that are used for training purposes as well, but those are probably rare opportunities that won't happen often.

In the end, she couldn't make a decision and started asking Elder Sandra questions.

"What can you teach me about the saber, Elder Sandra?" Celaine started off with this question because even though she didn't want anybody's help, that doesn't mean that Elder Sandra doesn't have a special way of learning the Saber, or maybe she knows something that she doesn't…

"The saber? Why would I know how to use a saber? I'm a sword user!"

"..."

Celaine stared at Elder Sandra with a deadpan expression when she heard that. Her opinion of this Elder dropped by a notch just by that answer alone.

"If you don't know how to use a saber, then what would you teach me?" Celaine asked carefully.

"Of course, I'll teach you how to fight!! Oh, I'll also give you one of our best cultivation techniques, and we even have a way to reform your Core in case you formed a shitty Core when you broke through to the Core Formation Realm! I can teach you our Sect's signature techniques as well."

Hearing this, Celaine's opinion of the Elder dropped by another notch. However, she hasn't made her decision yet. She wanted to learn more about the benefits of being a Direct Disciple.

"What about things like access to Secret Training Realms, areas to boost my Dao Comprehension, or my responsibilities to the Sect?"

"You'll have priority over such places as long as you're my disciple. As for your duties to the Sect… all you have to do is what I tell you to do!"

That was the nail in the coffin for Celaine. Her eyes started twitching, and if the difference in strength between the two wasn't so large, she would definitely feel like giving this Elder a good beating!

'Fuck! This is literally just slavery with extra steps! Who the hell is this Elder, and why did the Sect allow her to oversee the Entrance Exam?!' Celaine cursed in her mind. She really wanted to curse out loud, but she felt like she might actually be beaten to death.

So, while being as nice as possible, she turned down Elder Sandra's proposal.

"I'm sorry, Elder Sandra, but I don't think I can accept your proposal. My dream is to reach the peak of the Saber through my own effort and understanding. I know it'll be hard, but I believe the benefits of following my own path will outweigh the cons." She tried to keep her words short, and to the point so Elder Sandra couldn't use her own words against her.

Elder Sandra, however, was a bit surprised that Celaine turned down her offer, and contrary to how Celaine thought she would react, Elder Sandra began laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! Interesting! Interesting! Good! That's how women these days should be! We should all be trying to pioneer our own path!" Elder Sandra then paused to calm down and continued, "But, you should also know that it's not necessarily a bad thing to take the advice of others. While I may not use the Saber, there are things I know that should be able to help you regardless. You should also know that since you rejected my offer, the path ahead of you won't be easy. You could've had a free ride to the top, but now you'll have to work hard in order to reach that position."

Celaine nodded with a firm expression and said, "I understand, and thank you for your words, Elder Sandra. However, I prefer being in such an environment. I find that my growth is not only faster but more efficient when there is competition."

Now, it was Elder Sandra's turn to look at Celaine with a dumbfounded expression before she burst out laughing, "Pfft-HAHAHAHA! That's right, girl! Only in such a tough and competitive environment will you be able to grow the most! What a good mindset you have for someone so young!"

"Well, no matter. You may have rejected my offer to become my disciple, but that doesn't mean I can't teach you anything. I'll be sure to keep an eye on you once you join the Sect. Actually, this whole test is probably meaningless for you, right? In fact, your presence would probably ruin this entire test. So, I'll directly admit you into the Battle Maiden Sect and remove you from this test."

After Elder Sandra said this, she waved her hand and removed the seal on Celaine, then wrapped her in Qi and took her to where she was spectating before she flew over to Celaine.