Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

After the explosion, once the dust settled, Mira could be seen lying flat on the ground, At a distance, she might look like she had fainted, but with the subtle twitches in her eyes and body, it was clear she was still conscious. However, she looked like a charred piece of meat.

Meanwhile, Nova was kneeling a few dozen meters away from Mira with a large gash that went from her left shoulder to her right hip. Her breaths were rigid, but she otherwise looked fine.

The Elders and other disciples, who were watching this spar, gawked at this sight as they never even entertained the idea that Nova might end up with such an injury against someone 50 years her junior!

Their eyes unconsciously shifted between Mira and Nova, now looking at Mira in a different light.

'It seems the Sect Master has found someone amazing.'

Now that they had witnessed Mira's power firsthand, a vague premonition of her as the Prime Disciple formed in their minds, but just this wasn't enough to completely sway their opinions. Being on the losing end for most of the battle and ultimately losing the spar wasn't particularly inspiring.

Still, they had to admit that Mira had potential.

In between both of them stood Sect Master Aelina, who had both her arms outstretched in their directions, covering them with a thin barrier of Qi.

One might not understand why or how Mira and Nova got injured if Aelina had protected them, but the Elders, who were more experienced and sensitive to Qi, could see what she had done.

Aelina made it so the barrier would only protect them if their lives were in danger. Other than that, it didn't provide any sort of benefit.

"You two really went all out, huh? Did you forget this was just a spar? Why'd you two have to go so far as to try and kill each other?" Aelina questioned playfully, but she wasn't actually upset. In fact, more than anything, she was satisfied with how this battle played out.

Nova raised her head and stared at Sect Master Aelina, "Mira asked for it, Sect Master. She wanted to see what sort of power she'd need if she wanted to be the Sect's Prime Disciple. I merely acquiesced her request," Then, she glanced at the other Elders, "I also knew you or one of the Elders wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. This is just a spar, after all."

Aelina smiled but didn't say anything. She walked over to Mira, who was twitching on the ground and looked at Maria.

"Little girl, why don't you come over and heal your wife? I'm sure everyone is questioning why you're here. It's time to prove yourself useful."

Maria's mind seemed to have gone blank as she stared at the defeated Mira lying on the ground. She barely registered what Sect Master Aelina said and slowly made her way over to Mira.

She could hardly believe her eyes right now. All this time, Mira had always been invincible in her mind. No matter the situation or enemy, whatever she faced, she overcame. She didn't think it'd be any different this time.

Mira would show up, kick some ass, collect all the loot, and leave. Afterward, she'd probably be injured, and that's where she'd come in! She could swoop in, get Mira patched up, and ready to go in no time!

In fact, that's one of the main reasons Maria wanted to focus on the path of a healer. She's never been a good fighter. Even after all the time Mira has put into training her, she's an above-average fighter at best. She just doesn't have the instincts, mindset, or weapon talent necessary to become a top-level swordsman or fighter.

Of course, with enough time and effort, she could improve these aspects of herself, but the problem is she'd never be as good as Mira when it came to fighting and, thus, would always be more of a liability than an asset to Mira on the battlefield.

Therefore, she wanted to find her own unique path, her own way in which she could support Mira in her endeavors. When she obtained the [Transcendent Restoration] technique, Maria felt like she'd found her calling!

The only things Mira does in her life are fighting and training. If she can't do either one of them because she's injured, then in her mind, she's wasting time. If she could bring Mira back to peak condition in a few hours to days rather than waiting weeks or months to heal naturally or spending outrageous sums on pills, she could increase Mira's life's efficiency.

Thus, in a way, she could consider herself beneficial or an asset to Mira's life. As her lover, she desired to be more than just a pretty face or an emotionally stable person. She wanted to be helpful in some way to Mira, and being a healer was her way of being useful.

However, watching Mira get beaten like a dog and there was little to nothing she could do about it, her thoughts shifted.

She had always thought Mira was invincible. No matter what came her way or what condition she'd end up in, she'd live and come back home. As long as Mira lived and came back to her, then she could heal her.

She never once considered the possibility of Mira not coming home, but watching that sun fall and tear Mira apart, those thoughts halted.

'What if… What if Mira doesn't make it back? Wh-What if she… what if she d-d-d-dies?' It was like lightning had struck her body, and she froze in place, but the thoughts continued.

'What good is a healing technique if… if they don't even come back alive?'

'Is my choice to give up fighting the right choice?'

'Wouldn't I be completely useless to Mira whenever she gets in a fight?'

'No, more than that, aren't I basically wishing for Mira to get hurt by becoming a healer? Otherwise, wouldn't I be useless if she never got hurt?'

'Should I put more effort into training?'

'Even if I do put in more effort, it's not like I'll ever reach Mira's level. I still wouldn't be all that useful in a fight?'

'Then again, wouldn't I at least be a little useful if I could fight and heal? But can I even do that? Or am I too greedy to want both?'

'...'

These thoughts hit Maria like a ton of bricks and consumed her. She could hardly tell what was right and wrong or up and down at this point. It felt like her world was collapsing.

But after a few moments, these thoughts came to a screeching halt!

'No, this is wrong. This line of thinking is wrong! What I've been doing up until now is wrong! All this time, I've been selfishly thinking that what I've been doing was for Mira's own good!'

'I wanted to believe that me being a healer could make her life easier, but is that really the case? Does Mira need someone to heal her?'

'I've been so blinded by my pursuit to be useful to Mira that I hadn't even asked myself the most important questions.'

'What does Mira need? What does she lack? What can I do that can relieve some of the burdens on her shoulders?'

Maria didn't know the answers to those questions, nor could she continue these thoughts as she stood before Mira's body.

Even though her mind was still a mess, she bent down, placed her hand on Mira's chest, and the 2nd Stage of the Transcendent Restoration Technique burst into her body!

Almost immediately, one could see the changes happening to Mira's body. Her dead, burnt skin flaked off. Her bones moved and set in place, and the holes in her body closed up and healed over.

Maria kept injecting Qi into Mira's body until she ran out. By the end, Mira had transformed from a burnt piece of meat to her normal sexy self with hardly any injuries!

The Elders, Nova, the other disciples, and even the Sect Master could hardly believe what they just saw! Their eyes were wide open as they stared at Maria with their mouths agape!

She had just brought someone who should have taken a week or so to recover with pills to a condition where she could fight again in mere moments!

"No way!"

"What the hell is that healing technique?! I've never seen anything like it!"

"To be able to heal someone in that condition and bring them to a fully functioning state in just a few seconds is… nothing short of incredible. Whoever taught Maria that technique is a genius!"

Usually, Maria might shamelessly stick her nose up in pride, but this time, she wasn't in the mood for such shenanigans. She just sat there, caressing Mira's face, tuning out everything around her.

'Let's talk after we leave this place,' Maria thought.

Mira stared at Maria, feeling something was wrong with her, but now wasn't the time to ask about such things.

Sect Master Aelina, seeing that Mira was fine and awake, announced, "Now that they've had a chance to show off, let's get into the real reason we've gathered here today!"

"The Elders and I have finally decided how to choose this century's Prime Disciple!"