Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance
Chapter 56: Back to the Bandit Camp

Mira and Maria were making their way through the tunnel that they first entered around 2 years ago. Mira remembered that there was a Late-Stage Rank 2 Thunderhorn Hare that was staying in this little cave. Mira wasn't worried about the beast anymore though. The amount of Late-Stage Rank 2 Magical Beasts that she killed in the endless battlefield stage was immense.

It took them a while, but they finally made it out of the cave without coming across the Thunderhorn Hare that was here 2 years ago. Mira took in a deep breath as she looked at the surrounding trees, felt a breeze wash over her, smell the surrounding forest, and feel the sun hitting her.

"Hmmm. I want to get excited over seeing the forest, but I don't think I will be excited until we get out of the forest! It's still nice to be able to smell the earth and feel the breeze though!" Maria exclaimed as she was now set on leaving the forest. Mira couldn't blame her as she also wanted to look at something different.

"Let's go! I'm curious how those women are doing." Mira said and they both started heading towards the bandit camp. They weren't in any hurry, so they just went through the forest at a leisurely pace. Mira also wanted to avoid that old man's cabin so she made sure that they stayed as far away from that area as they could. Mira also felt that nothing could threaten them in this area of the forest, so she took out her egg and started feeding it her energy and blue lightning.

'Damn! This Beast Egg really needs a lot of energy. I hope it's worth it.' Mira thought to herself as she felt like this little beast is a black hole for energy.

They stopped somewhere to camp out for the night as Mira continued to provide the little egg energy until she ran out. They both went asleep.

The next couple of days went by like this. They didn't need to kill anything and there was nothing in this section of the forest that interested them that much. It was actually rather unfortunate because even if they did find something, it would not be as good as anything they currently have with them.

At this pace, it took them almost a week to reach the bandit camp that the women were staying at. They soon came across something that looks less like a rundown bandit camp and more like a small town. The walls now had stone pillars in them and the bottom of the walls was made of stone while the rest was wood. The walls were also a bit taller than before. They could also hear the sounds of people working in the camp as well.

"It seems they have been busy. So far so good." Mira muttered and Maria nodded her head with a happy expression.

They continued to the front of the camp where a large gate was located. There were 2 people standing in the stone towers next to the gate as well. Mira could feel that they were both Stage 1 Qi Condensation.

The two people in the tower saw 2 people approach, but one was surrounded by a deathly chilling aura and the other was an extremely beautiful golden-blonde young woman. They both immediately thought of 2 people that helped train them up to this point. They weren't sure what to do, but just looked at each other and made sure that it was them.

"HALT! This place is off-limits to outsiders! Please leave immediately or we will be forced to take action!" They both shouted at Mira and Maria. Maria just shook at her head as Mira smirked.

"It seems you don't remember me. I told you we'd come back to check on you around 2 years ago. Have you already forgotten about me? I may need to re-educate you two later. Hehe." Mira said slyly to them.

""WE ARE SORRY, MISS MIRA! WE JUST NEEDED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS YOU"" They both screamed as they hopped down from the tower and kneeled in front of her.

"Very well. Take us inside. It's time to see if you held up your end." Mira gestured to them as they both nodded and led Mira and Maria inside.

They didn't see anybody walking around aimlessly in the center of this small town or people doing nothing. Instead, they heard noises coming from the training grounds that they trained at 2 years ago.

They walked back there and Mira saw almost every single woman training together. Most of the people were sparring with each other, she saw areas for lifting giant boulders to help with working out. She also felt that everyone here was currently in the Qi Condensation Realm. They were all Stage 1 Qi Condensation though. Mira nodded at this scene. Even though they reached Qi Condensation, they didn't stop training. When Mira walked into the training grounds, the surrounding temperature started to drop by a bit. Everyone in the training grounds turned around to look at who it was and immediately saw 2 very familiar people. Mira was wearing the same clothes and mask that she always wore when she stayed here and Maria looked even more beautiful than before. They also saw a small red fox being held by Maria. Vulcan had woken up not too long before they left the ruins as he absorbed and assimilated the Fire Essence into him. He was now a Mid-Stage Rank 3 Magical Beast and grew a couple of centimeters taller and longer. His fire was also bright orange and much stronger than before. He didn't just absorb the flame essence into his heart, but completely assimilated the whole thing into his body. Vulcan had just slept for most of the time in Maria's arms as he missed her quite a bit.

Everyone stopped their training and came over to Mira and kneeled.

""WELCOME BACK, MISS MIRA!"" They yelled at the same time and Mira just nodded.

Alicia was the first to come forward after that.

"Gather everyone here. If there are people not here, we will wait for them. I hope you all lived, for your sake." Mira said this and everybody gulped. They had almost forgotten how Mira acted. Even with all 500 of them in the Qi Condensation Realm now, they still felt like ants in front of Mira.

Alicia bowed slightly and started to gather everyone on the training grounds. There were a couple of people that were out hunting, so they had to wait for them to come back. They waited until Night and saw around 10 people with large wooden carts behind them that were filled to the brim with magical beasts. Alicia had them put up the beasts and gather at the training grounds. They were a bit curious as to why, but immediately knew why when they saw 2 familiar figures and a small red fox. They gulped and walked to join the others. Alicia walked up to Mira and spoke to her.

"We are all gathered here, Miss Mira." Alicia said as she bowed and joined the others.

Mira began to count everyone present here. She also noticed that everyone here was in the Qi Condensation Realm and most people here wore beast pelts as clothes. Soon she finished counting everyone here and compared it to the number she remembers 2 years ago.

"It seems you lot actually managed to survive this entire time without losing anybody. I guess I will have to hold my end of the deal now. I will take you lot to Lunar Fox City as an escort. We will also be staying at Maria's place. They have a courtyard that should be big enough to hold all of you. As per our agreement, I will also be acting much nicer than before when we get there." Mira said as she started to remove her mask. The women here were cheering loudly as they get to live another day! Then they started to notice that Mira was removing her mask and looked at her with sparkling eyes. They figured that she must be a beauty under that mask, but didn't know how much of one. As soon as she took off her mask, the whole place went quiet. Nobody moved a muscle either. It was like their brains short-circuited. Mira really did look like she was chiseled by the gods. Someone that could be deemed perfect in almost every aspect of her beauty. They didn't come out of their stupor until Mira spoke up.

"This is the face of who will lead you all to become a terrifying force in this world. Etch this into your memory so that you never forget. As you all can clearly see, this is the reason I wear a mask. My beauty attracts way too much attention and I would never be able to live peacefully without a mask. On a different note, start gathering the things that you want to take with you to the city. I would recommend taking a blanket with you at the very least as I doubt the place you will be staying has an extra 500 blankets to spare. Take anything valuable or important to you as well as you might not be back here for a while." Mira said to them as they had all finally came back to their senses. They listened to Mira but were still staring at her intensely.

"Oh right! One more thing. Maria and I found a ruins near the Core Region of the Forest. This place has a trial set up for those that are in the Qi Condensation or Foundation Realm as well as being under 40. You all should be able to enter that place. When we are done with the city, I will lead you all to the place. Normally, I'd have you look for this place on your own, but it's a huge pain in the ass to find and impossible to describe. The trials will also be plenty difficult, so not finding this place is negligible. If you are able to complete the trial, it will take around 2 years. Your goal is for all of you to complete the trial. With me training you, this should be no problem. That is all!" Mira was finally done talking to them as all of them nodded and left to gather all of their things. They also prepared a feast tonight because they won't be back here for a long time or ever.

Once Mira and Maria were alone, Mira spoke to her before Maria could bring up anything.

"If you can convince your Dad to hold all of these people, I will include you in the group that I need to be nice too. I will also spend days in the city with you." Mira said to Maria. Maria's eyes nearly fell out of her head. Mira? Being nice? Has Hell frozen over? Is the world ending? Is she possessed? She has to grasp this opportunity!!

"Leave it to me! I will force them all in if I have to!! Hehehe! I will not let this opportunity slip!!" Maria yelled with conviction.

Alicia and the others had all gathered their stuff and were currently eating all of the food they currently had in reserve.

They soon found themselves asleep and the night passed by quickly. In the morning, everyone had gathered with all of their stuff. They took Mira's advice and brought their blankets as well as anything important to them.

"We will set off for Lunar Fox City now! Let's go!" Mira exclaimed as she led them out of the front gate.

Mira, Maria, and Vulcan were leading the way as all 500 women left their homes for the last 2 years.