Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

A few moments before Nova spoke, she had been observing Mira intently. She wanted to know everything about the person who the Sect Master chose to be the one to lead the Sect.

From the moment Mira appeared before her, she could tell that Mira was special. Whether it be her temperament, aura, or beauty, Nova wasn't disappointed. However, that was all. She couldn't feel the limits of Mira's strength, but her instincts, honed from countless years of battle, knew she wasn't a threat.

No, Mira was far below what a threat should be, but this wasn't all that surprising to Nova. How could someone in the Core Formation Realm threaten her? If that were the case, she wouldn't mind throwing her pride away, conceding the Prime Disciple position to Mira.

But that wasn't what left Nova disappointed.

What made Nova dissatisfied was that she felt like Mira wouldn't even be able to put up a good fight against her, even if they were at the same cultivation level!

This wasn't because of a lack of strength on Mira's part. No, she was plenty strong, but Nova, one of the most talented women under 100 on the Western Continent, sensed Mira lacked battle experience.

'No, that's not right. This woman has plenty of battle experience. Judging from the murderous aura constantly leaking out of her, she's used to killing. However, battles among high-level cultivators or talented cultivators are different. It seems she has yet to experience that.' Nova analyzed, but it wasn't just her who came to that conclusion.

The other disciples in the room and all the Elders could tell she was lacking in this area, but then again, they couldn't necessarily fault Mira for that.

From the little they know about Mira, she came from a Branch Sect in the middle of nowhere. Thus, it wouldn't be surprising if Mira could steamroll all her opponents with minimal effort.

But things are different over on this side of the Continent, where the Top Sects are. She now joined a Sect where only the top 0.00001% of people get to join.

Having tons of experience against fighting weaklings and beasts isn't going to cut it. Mira needs to know how to fight against other humans in the top 0.00001% of talent, as mistakes aren't allowed in these fights.

Qi control, techniques, abilities, maneuverability, adaptability, ability to read your opponent's moves and techniques, aerial combat, weapon skills, perception, and just plain old experience.

Those are just the fundamentals for high-level fights. Having an edge in any of those areas can significantly improve your chances of winning, and things get even more complicated the stronger one gets.

Obviously, strength is essential, but that's a given. Everyone in the Top 7 Sects is strong. Affinities, physiques, unique meridians and cores, and equipment also play an essential role in determining who might be the strongest or the most talented, but they are only there to build on the fundamentals.

Thus, everyone could tell that although Mira's base strength is extraordinary, if she were to encounter an experienced yet talented cultivator only slightly stronger than her, it'd be a hard fight.

Of course, they didn't account for all of Mira's unique abilities or unknown powers, but they didn't need to because if Mira only relied on that, she'd stand no chance against those from the Central Continent.

After coming to this conclusion, Nova couldn't sit still. She knew her judgment could be wrong as many things about Mira were hidden under a veil.

'It seems the only way for me to understand her fully is for us to fight.' Nova thought as she walked in front of Mira.

When Nova stood before Mira, although the latter was taller, her eyes still looked down.

"So, you're Mira, huh? The girl that the Sect Master wanted to give the Prime Disciple position to. You don't seem that strong to me," Nova said, not out of arrogance or contempt but as a fact.

Mira matched her gaze with a slight frown.

'She's strong!' Her instincts flared as she knew her chances of winning against this woman were 0.

The aura around Nova was like a bubbling volcano, ready to burst at any time. It was quiet yet overbearing and pressed down on Mira like a mountain.

Intensifying the pressure, Nova continued, "I'd like to experience for myself the strength of the person Sect Master chose."

Knowing this was a challenge and seeing how nobody intended to stop this, Mira knew she'd have to fight this woman whether she wanted to or not.

So, she nodded, "I'm also curious about the strength of one of the Sect's top disciples."

Nova didn't say anything else and made some distance between her and Mira, then pulled out her spear. Mira did the same and took out her scythe.

None of the Elders berated them for their behavior as they were curious about Mira's power. There's also no need to change locations, as it's literally impossible for them to destroy anything in the building. Especially not with so many Elders and even the Sect Master present.

"I'll suppress my cultivation to your level so we can have a fair fight," Nova said and suppressed her cultivation to the 5th Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

The two readied their weapons and stared at each other for a moment.

"Start!" The Sect Master announced.

The two of them dashed at each other at the same time.

*Clang!*

Their weapons collided with the same amount of force. The two were controlling their strength right now to test each other out.

However, as Mira was in the midst of spinning her scythe to attack Nova again, the latter had already thrust her spear.

With no other choice, Mira dodged it, canceling some of her momentum, but as someone who had attained Scythe Intent, she easily regained it and counter-attacked.

*Clank!*

Nova deflected the attack and thrust forward once again, trying to close in on Mira, reducing the effectiveness of her scythe.

Mira sidestepped, blocking the attack, and used a forward momentum to try and smash Nova with the blunt end of her scythe.

Nova hopped back, but only enough that the end missed her by less than a centimeter. Before Mira's attack even moved out of the way, Nova had closed in again and slashed.

Mira did exactly the same thing and dodged the slash by a hair's width, then launched a flurry of attacks.

This went on for a few minutes, with the two constantly trading attacks, using a similar amount of force, but neither of them could gain the upper hand. With one attack, Mira might push Nova back, but it'd only take a few more rounds until the latter pushed Mira back.

It was almost like the two were dancing, but in reality, they were just making sure that the other party was even worthy of being a challenge.

Before all the extra concepts one must know in order to fight high-level cultivators, one must have a basic understanding of how to wield a weapon.

If Mira lost to Nova in this stage of the fight, it'd prove that Mira is unworthy of the Prime Disciple position.

The Central Continent Competition is only 20 years away, and if Mira has to focus on perfecting her weapon skills on top of everything else, then there's no way she'd become strong enough for them to even think about entering the Top 3.

Why should she be the Prime Disciple if that's the case?

That's what Nova is trying to prove by this short bout. She wants Mira to prove to not only her but everyone that she at least has the basics of the basics down.

After another 10 minutes, the battle between the two became extremely fierce that even when one of them was pushed back, it didn't last more than a second. On the outside, it looked as if the two were standing still; that's how fast they were moving.

Yet, even under such an intense spar, Mira kept her ground, something the Elders acknowledged.

"It seems she at least has some skill."

"What I find more impressive is she's reached this level of skill with a scythe! Especially at such a young age!"

"I agree. From her youthful aura full of vitality, it seems like she's probably not over 30. How can she reach such skill with the scythe without a master teaching her?"

"How do you know she doesn't have a master?"

"Hmph! Are you stupid? How many scythe masters live on the continent?"

"I… I don't know. I haven't seen any. If there are any, they'd probably be among the Unorthodox Faction Elders."

"Exactly! Not only are scythe-users rare, but they are almost exclusively part of the Unorthodox Faction! Since Mira is in our Sect, how could she have a Master from the Unorthodox Faction?"

"Well… Your logic is a bit off, but I agree that she probably wasn't taught. Those moves and footwork aren't something you would have if a master taught you. Not at her age, at least."

"She also has great insight and can read her opponents well."

"Her body is also strong since she can keep up with Nova like that without any Qi."

The Elders commented on their battle and were satisfied with what they were seeing… for now.

Suddenly, the atmosphere around Nova changed and a fiery surrounded her spear, gathering at the tip.

"Ah! It seems Nova is done testing Mira. Time for the real battle to begin!"