Maria and Celaine turned around and saw Mira walking towards them with a slight grin, a genuine grin. The two of them were caught in a daze looking at such a beautiful smile on such a beautiful face. If they were men they would have surely been lovestruck as even as women they couldn't stop their hearts from beating faster. They didn't want to say anything just so they can fully take in this moment as long as they can before Mira's expression goes back to normal.
Just like they suspected, Mira started to frown when she saw how intently the two were looking at her.
"Tch!"
"Tch!"
The two of them clicked their tongues when Mira stopped grinning and their mood became somewhat complicated, but luckily Maria went back to her normal self.
"Congratulations on breaking through! I assume that something good must've happened for you to be so happy. Hehe." Maria asked but didn't forget to tease.
"I see you broke through as well. And I guess you could say I got a few unexpected benefits due to the increase in cultivation." Mira nodded and noticed that Maria also broke through to the Xiantian Stage.
Celaine also had a breakthrough into the Late-Houtian Stage. This cultivation session has been very beneficial to Mira's group.
Mira sat down and started to explain that her scythe got a bit of an upgrade and something special happened when she broke through, but she's not quite sure how it will affect her.
She then showed off her scythe a bit which gave off a dangerously cold aura. Maria and Celaine were in awe at how cool Mira's scythe was. Although Celaine's saber is a higher grade than Mira's scythe, her scythe seemed almost as strong as her weapon along with radiated a dangerous aura. This is just the difference between a spiritual weapon and a normal weapon.
Even though Mira's scythe isn't that high of a grade, it's not because the quality of the materials is bad, it's just that her cultivation is too low to show off how amazing her scythe really is.
"Do you two want to continue cultivating or go explore? It doesn't matter to me." Mira suddenly asked after the three of them chatted for a little.
"I don't care. It might take a while for me to break through to the Mid-Xiantian Stage so I doubt I'll be getting stronger anytime soon. At the same time, I'm a little scared to go outside as I can feel danger looming over us. It's up to you to decide, Celaine." Maria said.
"Hmm… Part of me wants to stay and cultivate because I know I'm the weak link, but it'll take me a while to reach the Peak-Houtian Stage and even longer to break through to the Xiantian Stage. We might as well go explore this canyon some while making this little cave our base." Celaine suggested a pretty good idea.
Mira and Maria didn't really want to waste their time cultivating as it'll be a while until they have another breakthrough and they only have a limited time in this place that is filled with treasures and opportunities.
"Sure, let's do that then," Mira said while Maria nodded.
There wasn't much to pack up, so it didn't take long for the 3 of them to exit their little cave.
As soon as they left, a wave of freezing air hit them which sent shivers down their entire body, well, except for Mira. This was like home to her, she can even feel her body wanting it to be colder than this.
Luckily, Maria and Celaine were able to get accustomed to some of the cold, but due to the cave being closed off it was slightly warmer in the cave than it was out there. They still couldn't get used to this piercing cold weather.
Mira didn't say much and created some ice wings then jumped down into the canyon. They still had many kilometers to go before they reached the bottom which made everything look surreal.
Maria and Celaine could only sigh and followed Mira.
Almost an hour later, Mira's group finally landed at the bottom of the canyon and they couldn't help but look at their surroundings in amazement.
Everything was still covered in a layer of ice which wasn't surprising, but what amazed them was how bright it was.
They looked up and could barely see the sky much less the moon, but it was still so bright down at the bottom. What made it more beautiful was they could see silvery rays of light refracting off the sides of the canyon until they made their way down to the bottom.
"Wow! This place is amazingly beautiful! If it weren't for how damn cold it is, I'd want to live here! I wonder what happened to this world for it to freeze over like this or if it was always like this?" Maria stared in amazement as Mira and Celaine did the same.
"Who knows? It's not like we can do anything about it, but you're right. This place is really beautiful." Mira muttered.
They spent a few minutes taking the sight in before they began their exploration.
The first thing they noticed was tons of animal tracks on the ground, though they seem like they've probably been frozen for years. With no leads and nothing better to do, Mira's group started to follow these footprints, which all seemed to lead in the same direction.
Following these tracks, they didn't run into anything interesting, in fact, they didn't run into anything at all. No ice herbs, beasts, or even a change in scenery. It was almost scary how quiet everything was.
What Mira was hoping to find, other than increasing her comprehension in her Dao, is an Ice Elemental Essence.
After Mira completed the Trial, one of her rewards was an Ice Elemental Essence and although it was just a basic one and didn't offer much help, she knew that if she were to find a powerful Ice Elemental Essence, her power would skyrocket.
This world was probably the best place to find something like that, but whether or not she'll actually come across one really just boils down to luck.
Elemental essences are incredibly rare, one of the rarest resources in the cultivation world, and not only are they rare, but finding one in the element you use makes it even harder to find one.
If one were to use a different Elemental Essence from their own element, then it will definitely cause a backlash while also losing all of its effects.
Mira might be able to, but it's not like they are just cabbage that she can pick up whenever she wants.
Mira shook these thoughts out of her head and continued following the tracks.
After a few days of walking, they finally came across something different. What they saw looked like a rather large cave built into the side of the canyon. The entrance was 2 meters wide and 4 meters tall and there were 2 pillars encased in the ice next to the entrance of the cave.
"This is interesting," Mira muttered as she noticed the animal tracks leading into the cave in front of them.
"What do you think is in there, Mira?" Maria asked.
"I'm not sure. There might be nothing or the cave might be filled with beasts. We'll only know if we explore it. But this cave is really giving off a dungeon-like vibe." Mira said hinting at them that she wants to explore this cave.
"Well, we came all this way to explore and this seems to be the only interesting thing in this massive canyon. I say we explore it." Celaine said to which the other two nodded.
"Very well, let's explore this cave, but don't let your guard down. We don't know what's in there, if it's filled with traps, if there are beasts, or if it is someone's home. I'll go in first followed by Celaine and lastly Maria." Mira ordered as she took out her scythe and prepared for battle.
The other two did the same as Celaine wielded her saber while Maria took out her sword.
The two of them slowly made their way towards the cave with serious expressions.
