After Maria and Celaine warmed up a bit, they were finally able to discuss their current situation.
"This place is really weird. Although I wasn't paying too much attention to our surroundings on our way here due to how cold it is, there is just something about this place that just feels off. We haven't run into any beasts, nothing has tried to kill us, and even the environment isn't that dangerous, it's just extremely cold. Yet, why do I have this subtle feeling of danger? Why are there no beasts around here? Hell, I don't think I even saw any plants or herbs on our way here!" Celaine was the first one to voice her thoughts.
"So you have that feeling too, huh? I agree with Celaine! I don't like this place, it gives me the chills, in more than one way hehe." Maria joked but still agreed.
"I have no clue. I felt something watching us while we were running towards this canyon, but it seemed to take its eyes off of us when we entered this cave. I doubt that whatever was watching us is not able to sense us and we merely survived based on the whims of this creature. I suggest that we stay here so you two can get used to the cold while I go into closed-door meditation to digest the insights that have been flooding into me for a while now. I'll also be attempting to break through to the Xiantian Stage as well." Mira suggested to which they agreed.
"I think that's all we can do. Even if we go out there now, not to mention something trying to kill us, Celaine and I are more likely to die from the cold before we die to a man or beast. I'll also try to break through as well, but I think I'll be a bit slower than you." Maria said while Celaine nodded.
Maria and Mira were both at the Peak-Houtian Stage while Celaine was at the Mid-Houtian ready to break through to Late-Houtian at any time. Celaine wanted to breakthrough while they were in the ocean, but it'd take a few days for her to break through and they were being attacked by aquatic beasts several times a day so there wasn't an opportunity.
Although it was cold as hell in this place, the group was happy that they could finally take a break and cultivate. They've either been tempering their body or fighting beasts for months straight and haven't found the time to cultivate properly.
"I'll head to the back of the cave and wall myself off as to not disturb you two. I have a feeling that I might create a commotion if I were to meditate near you." Mira said and walked to the back, created a wall of ice, and shut herself in.
Mira sat down and began to meditate on her Absolute Ice Dao. Over the last few months, without her even noticing, she was actually accumulating many insights about her Dao that she hadn't even thought about.
When she showed up in the frozen world, everything that she's experienced up until now started to rush into her mind like a river.
As soon as Mira started meditating, she actually started to enter a state of enlightenment as her own ice started to release from her body, encasing her. There was no Yin Magma or Yin Lightning as it was just pure ice.
Mira started to understand the mysteries of ice much faster and also what it means to go down the path of the absolute.
The first thing she noticed when she first stepped into this icy world, was how there was no other element other than ice. It seemed that this world used to be composed of different elements, but everything ended up being encapsulated in ice.
It even looked like time had come to a standstill for this world yet somehow the world still seemed alive.
At first, Mira only wanted to go down the Absolute Ice Dao path so her ice will reign supreme, but she mainly wanted to use it as a way to rule over ice while being an insane defense measure against the other elements.
It wasn't until she cultivated the Magma Dragon Body and gained control over Yin Magma that she understood why her Dao hadn't progressed much. It was because she didn't truly understand what it meant to reign supreme and go down the path of Absolute.
But now that she has Yin Lightning and Yin magma under her control, she is starting to understand what it means to use her ice to dominate the other elements.
This, coupled with the Frozen World that happens to be the perfect location for Ice Dao users and Mira's Mutated Extreme Yin Physique, which she has decided to rename to Extreme Overlord Yin Physique due to how domineering it is over the other elements. All of these things combined have boosted her comprehension of her Dao by a large margin.
Mira stayed in this state for a little over two weeks.
During these two weeks, if one were to look at the ice that Mira was incased in, they'd be able to see changes happening to it.
Gradually over time, the ice that used to be transparent was now turning into something that looked like a bright azure metal. Its sharpness, durability, strength, weight, and every aspect about it was becoming stronger at an incredible pace.
After a week, Mira's Yin Lightning and Yin Magma also seeped into the ice encasing her, but instead of running rampant like they usually did, they were now docile like a servant waiting for orders.
During the second week, not only did the strength of Mira's ice increase along with her understanding of her Dao, but her Yin Lightning and Yin Magma also started to increase in effectiveness, albeit not as much as her ice.
Mira soon reached a bottleneck, but apparently, she had accumulated enough insights that she was able to break through this bottleneck and reach the next stage in her Dao.
She felt something click in her mind, almost like she just went through a major breakthrough, and soon the ice that was incasing her was sucked back into Mira's body.
Mira opened her eyes that held an icy glint and made an ice shard hover in her hand.
This shard looked more like azure steel than it did ice and felt like it too. She used the tip of the shard to prick her finger and after applying a bit of pressure her finger started to bleed. Although she was a bit surprised, she didn't find it that odd. After all, she just had a major breakthrough in her Absolute Ice Dao.
She inserted some Yin Lightning and Yin Magma into it and found them to be much more docile than before which was a nice surprise. Mira began to get a feel for how these elements behaved, but what she found out is they just listened according to her thoughts. If she wanted them to run wild then they'd run wild and if she wanted them to be precise then they'd strike where she wanted them to. It was less random and more orderly than before which was an unexpected benefit.
"Hmmm… I benefited a lot from this meditation, but I think I need more information on Daos and their path. Although one's chosen Dao path is something that one must traverse themselves, there must be some sort of power ranking or scale. Or maybe there isn't and I'm just overthinking it. Either way, it's time to break through to the Xiantian Stage. I wonder if something unexpected will happen during this breakthrough?" Mira muttered to herself as she prepared to break through to the next major stage in the Foundation Realm.
