Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

A few hours after Mira and Hana left, the Lionel Family caught wind of Hana's escape and put the entire city on lockdown.

The guards in charge of guarding Hana's room were beheaded, and the whole family went into a frenzy.

It wasn't just Azaar who was anxious because even the Patriarch had a dark expression on his face.

While it's not like they lost anything, nor has their family's position changed, that's exactly the problem. With Hana gone, the Lionel Family's position in the world won't change!

Hana was their ticket up in the world! Now that she's gone, all their plans have become null and void!

So, as soon as they learned of her escape, every family member went out and began searching for her.

Unfortunately, nobody had seen Hana directly as she was covered in a large black robe. Not to mention, it was in the middle of the night when the Inner City was less active.

However, the guards that saw Mira leave the city did say they saw a "fox beastman with a black tail carrying a child with a dark robe."

That wasn't much to go on, but it was all they had. Plus, fox beastmen are rarely seen, so for one to appear in Brightclipse City and for this same beastman to leave the night Hana escaped is incredibly suspicious.

When Azaar returned to the family after capturing Hana, he had already told his father and other key members about his encounter with Mira. So, while it was a bit of a stretch to say that the "black-tailed fox beastman" was Mira, they felt like this made the most sense.

Even if it wasn't Mira, they felt like things were certainly tied to Mira.

How many fox beastman out there in the world would be interested in Hana besides Mira?

Not many, if any.

Therefore, after learning about a black fox leaving the city, the Lionel Family immediately sent out nearly all their members at the Nascent Soul Realm and above to search outside the city for any traces of them.

Soon, they were able to pick up on a few of her tracks, but after around an hour of searching, those tracks fizzled out. Part of the reason is that Mira's ability to control her aura and Qi fluctuations has reached a very high level after continuously tempering herself in the Abyssal Battle Ladder.

Another reason is that Mira is just good at covering her tracks.

Lastly, Mira had already been gone for almost 6 hours before they even caught wind of Hana's escape; it was even later when they began tracking a black-tailed fox beastman.

After several hours of fruitless searching, the Family had a meeting regarding what they should do.

In the end, they decided to send out 10 Soul Transformation family members and their subordinates to all the surrounding cities to be on the lookout for any fox beastmen.

It didn't matter if they found a fox beastman with a black tail or 9 tails; they just needed to be on the lookout for any fox beastman.

They assumed that, at some point, Mira and Hana would end up stopping in one of these cities, and that's when they'll swoop in!

***

Mira and Hana had a decent understanding of what the Lionel Family might do, but at the same time, Mira vastly underestimated Hana's importance to the future of their Family.

It wasn't just about Hana pumping out talented babies one after the other with members of their family. No, Hana's own talent was very important as well! Given enough time and resources, she'd eventually become a top-level figure on the Western Continent!

If they could tie Hana down to their family, then they'd eventually gain someone who could lead the family toward greater heights!

Aside from that, Hana's stealth technique was incredible! Despite her only being a mortal, she could hide from the senses of a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator!

How fucking amazing is that?!? How could they let someone like that go?!?!

Because Mira was ignorant of this, she never once thought they'd send out many of their powerhouses to all the surrounding cities in hopes of searching for Hana.

Of course, Mira wasn't a complete idiot. She understood that they'd definitely come looking for her, and with her experience of having to hide from Azaar for about 2 months, she figured they wouldn't just stop looking after a few hours.

Nevertheless, she was confident in covering her own tracks, and since nobody knew where she was headed, she wasn't too worried about this.

However, Mira never planned to stop in any nearby cities to begin with.

During Mira's time in Brightclipse City, she had asked around a bit and gained a better understanding of the surroundings, the various powers near the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, the Top Sects, and some of the 'Danger Zones'.

She had also learned which direction to go in if she wanted to reach the Battle Maiden Sect. As one of the Top Sects on the Continent, there are very few big cities that don't know the general location of all the Top Sects.

That's because these Sects generally don't discriminate against who can join. As long as you have the talent, you can join! Thus, most people in large cities have a decent understanding of where these Sects are located.

She learned that cities around Brightclipse were all pretty much the same. A beastman family ruled them, and each family had someone in the Mortal Shedding Realm as the Patriarch.

While the city layouts, economy, and citizens were probably different, every city was pretty much the same.

Therefore, Mira saw no need to visit these cities. No, visiting these cities would be a huge waste of time!

The only reason Mira would go to one of them is so they can sleep in a nice comfy bed in an inn or so Hana can conveniently eat food, but since when did she care about that?

Also, entering those cities would just attract needless attention, so Mira saw no need to go there.

Instead, her first stop would be a city called Plum Blossom City, as it was outside the Lionel Family's influence. It would take Mira about a week to arrive there at her current pace.

From there, Mira should be able to get a better idea as to how far away she still is from the Battle Maiden Sect.

***

While running through the mountainous hills on the outskirts of the Ancient Beast Mountain Range, Mira carried Hana.

It had been about a week since they left Brightclipse City, and the two had barely said a word to each other. Hana was too preoccupied with her own thoughts and emotions to care about anything else, while Mira was thinking about the Hidden World Technique.

From the papers Hana gave her, she had a rudimentary knowledge of the technique, but just that was more than enough to give Mira something to think about for a while.

Mira found this technique so fascinating because you don't have to be a cultivator to practice it.

There are 7 Stages to the Hidden World Technique:

1. Breathless Steps

2. Silent Wind

3. Masked Scent

4. Desolate Earth

5. Heavenly Connection

6. Worldy Aura

7. Hidden World

Each stage is entirely different from the last, but they are somehow interconnected, which Mira found particularly odd. With how different each stage is and without the need for Qi, Mira didn't understand why you couldn't just pick and choose which stage you wanted to learn. Instead, you'd have to start at the 1st Stage and work your way up, with no exceptions.

Mira also discovered that when Hana first told Mira about the technique, she was describing the 5th and 6th stages!

So, technically, Hana never lied to Mira back when she first described it. She just "forgot" to mention that there were 4 stages before that she needed to master.

Her eyes couldn't help but twitch, and this once again reaffirmed Mira's opinion of Hana.

'She really is a smart and cunning little girl. I wonder how someone so young could be so smart. Does it have something to do with that pendant?' Mira wondered, almost amused.

Looking back on her first interactions with Hana, Mira realized that the girl hardly ever lied. She didn't even mix lies with her truths! Everything she said was the truth or what she believed to be the truth, which helped her gain Mira's trust.

This made Mira feel a bit complicated, but overall, her trust in the little girl rose slightly. She would just need to make sure to be on her toes whenever the two of them have a serious conversation.

As Mira was lost in thought, she finally caught a glimpse of Plum Blossom City off in the distance.

Hana also snapped out of her thoughts when she caught sight of the city. She was mentally and physically exhausted, hungry, and ready to leave Mira's arms! Not only that but her legs are still broken as well!

They'd been running almost nonstop for an entire week, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep on a nice comfy bed!

This time, Mira made her tails look pink and wore a black mask she bought in Brightclipse City.

Without any further delay, the two of them made their way to the entrance.