Back on Maria and Celaine's side, it's been a few days since they confirmed their plans and the two of them were doing exactly what Mira has been teaching them to do over the years.
Fighting!
Yes, they've been fighting nonstop ever since that day they came up with the plan 'Beat Mira up'.
They've been fighting Mira for years and so far she's definitely the most difficult opponent they've faced to date. And while they've learned a lot from sparring against her and from her teachings, they can't just spar against Mira for their entire lives. Well, maybe they could since she's just so versatile. BUT! That's so boring! They don't just want to lose because that's what's going to happen if they fight against Mira. They will lose.
Both of them are tired of that! They want to win! They want to see Mira under their feet just like she's seen them underneath hers!
That's why they've been fighting nonstop over the last few days. The only time they stop is when they need to rest, but other than that they are fighting or at least searching for a proper opponent to fight.
They decided not to split the days up alternating between cultivating and fighting. This is for several reasons, but the main one is so they can better digest what they learn from their fights while cultivating. They don't know how many fights they'll have to go through in order to stimulate their potential and give them something to meditate on. Neither do they know how long their meditation and cultivation sessions will last.
So they ultimately decided to just fight as many life-or-death battles as they can until they feel the need to meditate. Then they will meditate and cultivate until they noticed substantial gains. Then rinse and repeat.
Or in other words, they are just going to wing it!
Wow, what a great plan!
Though their plan might be dogshit and in reality, they have no idea what they are doing, it's not really about the plan. It's more about their mindset going into this long training retreat. They are going into this with a goal, one that might be almost impossible to achieve, but is totally possible as long as they put in the work. Not only do they have a goal, but this goal has a lot of meaning to them and would be the most satisfying and euphoric experience if they can complete this goal.
It could almost be said that Maria and Celaine don't even care about their families as much as they care about this goal! Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No, they might not even get this chance if they lived several lifetimes.
So really, it doesn't really matter what their plan is, as long as they keep this mindset throughout their training, then their strength will surely soar.
This world is also a Holy Land for Maria since it's not only filled with treasures of the Light Element, but even the beasts have a Light Affinity. So she can kill many birds with 1 stone just by fighting these beasts.
Her Light Dao comprehension, sword skills, and Light Element skills will rise just by fighting the various types of beasts here. Not only that, but even the beast corpses can be useful for her cultivation or at the very least her Light Dao. This isn't even taking into consideration the loot that some of these beasts have or how fighting them will help stabilize her cultivation.
This could be said to be the best place for Maria to get stronger.
Celaine, on the other hand, isn't quite as fortunate as Maria but it isn't like staying in this world is useless for her. She can still boost her Wind Dao, saber skills, and Wind Element skills and usage by fighting these beasts it'll just be to a lesser degree than Maria.
But that's okay since she's weaker than Maria in cultivation and surviving in this Secret Realm by herself would be extremely hard. No, it wouldn't just be hard. The most likely outcome for her is death. The beasts in this Secret Realm are just too strong! Just take Elenei for example! What the hell is she supposed to do about that?! Or worse, take Kayda the Magma Dragon. She's probably stronger than Elenei!
Want to know why she was able to survive and not just survive but also gain something from those encounters? Because of Mira! Not her strength, but her uniqueness and potential.
But what does she have? Talent with the Saber? Why would Kayda or Elenei care about something like that?
She would certainly die if she ever encountered those two by herself!
"But maybe that's exactly what I need in order to get stronger faster."
Celaine muttered to herself while deep in thought.
"What'd you say?"
Maria turned around and asked.
"Ah! I was just thinking that maybe me going solo would be able to stimulate my potential and boost my strength more than staying with you would."
Celaine explained.
"Are you saying you don't want to be with me anymore?"
Maria asked with teary eyes, but Celaine wasn't buying it. She just looked at her with a deadpan expression.
"Hehe~ Sorry sorry. Honestly, I think it would be a good idea, but you should first advance your cultivation to the Mid-Xiantian Stage of the Foundation Realm. Your chances of survival will definitely improve after that."
Maria offered a piece of advice that Celaine thought about seriously and found it reasonable.
"You're probably right. Who knows what sort of shit I'll encounter in this Secret Realm and every bit of strength counts. I guess I'll be in your care a bit longer, partner. Hehe~"
"Don't worry! Your Mommy Maria will take care of you and make sure you don't slack off! Haha!"
Maria hugged Celaine and caressed the back of her head as a mother would to her child. Then before Celaien could get angry, she started laughing and ran off.
Celaine felt her face twitch when she heard Maria call herself 'Mommy' and instantly regretted her decision to stay.
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before putting on her usual neutral expression. She looked in the direction that Maria ran off in and couldn't help but sigh one last time.
"Why must you run off like this every time? I don't enjoy chasing after your idiot self! You don't even know where you're going so how the hell am I supposed to know?!"
She couldn't help but grumble while tracking Maria down.
