Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Elder Sandra spent the next few minutes reporting everything they learned about Mira's capture to Aelina.

"I see. So, Mira was able to take down three Stage 9 Core Formation Realm enemies and severely injure a Stage 2 Nascent Soul Realm expert. Unfortunately, she was knocked unconscious by the blast from their impact and was captured by the remaining enemy, a Stage 1 Nascent Soul Realm enemy." Aelina muttered without a change in her expression, but the two elders could tell she was thinking deeply about this scenario.

"Alright! I understand the situation, but I have a few questions I'd like to ask you, Sandra." Aelina narrowed her eyes in Elder Sandra's direction, causing her to gulp nervously.

"P-Please ask away, Sect Master."

"First off, I'd like to ask why I was not informed of this Mira girl sooner. You, more than anyone, should understand that if trained properly, she could grow up to be a pillar of the Sect or maybe even the future leader. With her talent alone, she's more than qualified for such a position once she becomes strong enough. This isn't a simple disciple we're talking about here. No, this is someone who might be able to lead the entire Sect to greater heights!" Aelina questioned.

Elder Sandra wasn't quite sure what to say and just looked at Aelina as if she should already know the answer.

Seeing this, Aelina couldn't help but sigh.

"...I understand that every disciple we take in must survive the Outer Court and successfully enter the Inner Court, and I have nothing against this. In fact, if it were up to me, I would force Mira to take even more dangerous missions to temper herself with. There is simply no need for her to do missions way below her strength level. However! You should have told me about this matter as soon as you learned of her talent! At least then, I could keep track of her progress and maybe even have her do a few missions for me." Aelina reprimanded.

Elder Sandra lowered her head and apologized.

"Please forgive me, Sect Master! I did not think things through that far and was only planning on telling you after she joined the Inner Court, as per the Sect's rules!"

Aelina released another imperceptible sigh at the way Elder Sandra phrased her words, essentially blaming the Sect's rules for her failure.

Waving her hand dismissively, Aelina said, "What's done is done. But next time, you should inform me of anyone who was able to comprehend Intent before joining the Sect. As for my next question..."

Aelina was about to continue questioning Elder Sandra but stopped when she saw the awkward look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

Elder Sandra coughed awkwardly.

"Ahem... Well, you see, umm, how should I put this? I may have forgotten to mention that Mira has a friend who joined the Sect with her who also learned an Intent, Saber Intent, to be exact. Not only that, but the person she's living with right now has an incredible Light Element Affinity and practices a profound healing technique that can bring back someone from the brink of death without any issues. In truth, her abilities are barely less than the other two."

Aelina and even Elder Angella stared at Elder Sandra intently in both astonishment and disbelief.

Part of their disbelief stemmed from the fact that so many talents entered the Sect at the same time, but they also couldn't believe how stupid Elder Sandra was for not reporting this!

"Sandra! Do you think these kinds of talents are like some random cabbage you can pick up by the side of the road?! Why haven't you informed anyone of this sooner?! These people barely have a reason to be in the Outer Court! Were you just going to let them stay there for a few decades, wasting away their talent before you reported this matter?!" Angella was so furious that she began screaming at Elder Sandra, and rightfully so.

Mira, Maria, and Celaine all being talented and all being close to one another can't be a coincidence. Besides that, for people who have already comprehended some form of Intent, being stuck in the Outer Court would only limit their growth.

Although the Sect does have rules saying that all disciples must rise up from the bottom, there are always exceptions.

Even Aelina gave Elder Sandra a subtle accusatory glance. She can be magnanimous and forgive Sandra based on the fact that she followed the Sect's rules, but when a group of people with unparalleled talent show up, she can no longer look over this slight.

"Alright, enough. We'll deal with Sandra's punishment later. For now, I still have a few more questions. Do you know why someone would want to capture Mira? Also, how did they enter our territory without us noticing?" Aelina asked.

"This... I-I don't know. Forgive me, Sect Master!"

"Sigh... Well, then, if you don't know, let's just go ask someone who might." Aelina got up from her throne and said.

"Someone who might?"

"Yes. Now, take me to see those friends of Mira's." Aelina said while walking out of the building, leaving the two elders stunned.

"Wait! You're going to personally meet them?! There's no need for that, Sect Master! You can just leave this to your subordinates! There's no need to bother yourself with this!" Elder Sandra said while chasing after Aelina.

"Why can't I go meet them? I'd like to see for myself how talented these juniors of mine are." With that said, Aelina disappeared from her position and soon appeared above the Outer Court.

Elder Sandra and Elder Angella looked at each other for a moment before shrugging their shoulders and following after Aelina.

***

In the Outer Court, Maria had been busy giving a few commands to Mira's subordinates. She was finally going to try putting them to use. Although Mira said they wouldn't be useful until the Core Formation Realm, Maria didn't quite agree with that statement.

They might not be useful outside the Sect, but inside the Sect is a different story. All they need to look out for are rumors about a tall fox woman with multi-colored tails.

Aside from that, she was going to spend all of her time and effort on getting stronger. Whether that be by sparring with other disciples, taking on more difficult missions, or using all of her Merit Points on cultivation resources, she wasn't going to spare any effort.

Maria knew that for Mira to get captured meant that whoever she was against was strong enough that she needed to let herself be captured.

Thus, if Mira could only be captured, that means she has little to no chance of surviving should she go look for Mira right now. If anything, recklessly searching these mountains might end up doing more harm than good, not only to herself but Mira as well.

Suddenly, just as she was about to start cultivating, three women appeared in her room.

"Elder Sandra! What are you doing in my room?! Don't you know it's rude to barge into a lady's room like this? What if I was doing something lewd?" Maria exclaimed while covering her breasts and crotch with her hands.

Elder Sandra felt her mouth twitch and a vein pop in her forehead, listening to her nonsense.

"Brat! Why can't I enter your room? I'm an elder of the Sect, you know?"

"So, just because you're old, you get to enter a young maiden's room? Although I admit that my body is amazing and I can be considered the number two beauty in the Sect, that doesn't mean you can abuse your age as an excuse to take a sneak peek!" Maria countered, causing more veins in Elder Sandra's forehead to pop and her fists to clench.

"Brat! You know I could kill you for saying something like that to an elder of the Sect?" Elder Sandra tried intimidating Maria, but the latter just smiled.

"Hmph! I've long heard of how magnanimous and kind Senior Sister Sandra is! Why would you want to kill this talented and beautiful junior sister of yours over a few words? As long as you look past this, I'll even forgive you for wanting to spy on my beautiful figure."

"Fuck! Who's your senior sister?! I don't have a junior sister as shameless as you!"

"So, you're saying that if I wasn't shameless, then I could be your junior sister? I always knew you were kind, Senior Sister Sandra!"

Aelina and Elder Angella both found this sight quite amusing as they never expected this little girl to be so brazen. Most, if not all of the disciples, in and out of the Sect, look up to the Elders in awe and fear, but here's a little girl teasing her as if it was natural. The most amazing part was Elder Sandra was even trying to put pressure on her to intimidate her, but Maria just stood there with the same smile on her face.

Unfortunately, Aelina had to cut off this amusing interaction before Elder Sandra really lost her mind and killed Maria.

"Alright, that's enough, Sandra. Hello, Maria. My name is Aelina Verlice, and I'm the Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect."