Over the last month, Mira and Maria were busier than they had ever been before. Not only did they practice the various applications of Qi, Qi Control, and techniques, but they also learned the Hidden World Technique from Hana.
Thanks to Mira's enhanced brain functions and comprehensive abilities, she didn't need to sit down and only focus on practicing one thing. She could practice her Qi Applications, Control, Techniques, and Hidden World simultaneously. Though typically, if she wanted to refine her Qi Control, she could only do it in tandem with her Hidden World practice sessions.
Maria didn't have the same comprehensive abilities as Mira, but they were slightly enhanced after breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.
Mira mainly used Maria as her punching bag over the last month to test her progress, and because of that, Maria also learned and improved rapidly.
After a month of hard work, the two successfully achieved the 4th Stage of the Hidden World Technique, [Desolate Earth]. The Realms before this were [Breathless Steps], [Silent Wind], and [Masked Scent].
Mastering all these stages allowed them to be silent, odorless, traceless, and their bodies wouldn't affect or create air currents as they ran.
They effectively became ghosts!
With Hana helping them almost all day, the two made swift progress but got stuck at the 5th Stage, [Heavenly Connection]. This stage actually involved the use of Qi, unlike the previous four, and since Hana was still a mortal without any cultivation, she couldn't help them.
Thus, unless they wanted to waste weeks of their time hoping to comprehend the next stages of the Hidden World Technique, they settled with what they had and moved on to something else.
Mira and Maria silently glided across the ground toward the entrance of the mine without leaving any trails behind. The latter had her sword out, while the former had 8 Throwing Knives and a dagger.
Normally, Mira would use a scythe here, but the inside of the mine is too cramped and narrow, not suited well for a scythe.
Patrolling around the Mine walked a group of three middle-aged men in the 3rd Stage of the Nascent Soul. They were barely paying attention to their surroundings, minding their own business, clearly bored out of their minds.
"Hey. I snagged a few Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from the mine. Wanna cultivate with them?" One of the men nudged the man next to him.
The other man shrugged indifferently, "Sure. Why not? It's not like we're doing anything."
"Fuck! I know, right? If only I had an Elder of one of the Sects backing me, I wouldn't be stuck doing this shitty job!" The man spat, and the others just rolled their eyes at him.
They all knew that was a dirty lie. He was just a talentless coward that had nowhere left to go. They all were. That's why they're stuck here!
"Alright. Go get Ben to cover for us so that Elder bastard doesn't come and chop us up!" One of them said, and the man next to him nodded and then ran off.
However, before he could take more than a few steps-
*Shing!*
-for some reason, his perception warped, and the world turned upside down.
'What?'
He tried to speak, but no words came out, and then he saw something that scared the living hell out of him.
*Thump!*
A headless body hit the ground with blood spurting out of its neck came into his view, and he couldn't help but think, 'Is that my body?' before he lost consciousness and died.
His two buddies had their backs facing him, but when they heard the noise, they turned around, and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
A busty blonde woman in gold armor with a sword stood over their friend's headless corpse!
"What?!"
"When the fuck did she get there?!"
As the two pulled out their weapons, eight daggers flew in from the side, puncturing their temples, forehead, and heart. Their expressions were still laden with surprise and disbelief as blood gushed out of their bodies.
The two dropped to the ground without even knowing how they died.
Mira then materialized right above them, collected their belongings, and looked over at Maria.
The two of them nodded at each other and disappeared from their positions, running off to kill more guards.
***
On the other side, Nova and the others dealt with the few Soul Transformation Realm guards, who were a bit different compared to those at the Nascent Soul Realm.
On the Western Continent, with the Divine Sea Realm being the peak, a Realm which only a few dozen people at most have stepped foot into, finding people in the Soul Transformation is quite rare.
Although they aren't as rare as those in the Mortal Shedding Realm, as there are probably less than 1,000 humanoids who have reached that Realm on the Western Continent, it is considerably hard to find those with enough talent to become a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator.
If someone's in that Realm, there will between a vast difference in treatment between them and everyone below them.
And that's exactly the case here at the mine.
While the Nascent Soul Realm peons had to sit around and guard all day, the Soul Transformation Realm people were given a constant stream of Spirit Stones, a nice place to cultivate, paid with pills, equipment, and other items, and had very lax working hours.
Most of these benefits are given because they're disciples of the Top Unorthodox Sects. Just by being around the mine and releasing a bit of their aura, they can deter most people or beasts from entering.
At a distance, Eden sat on a tree with a bow and arrow and locked in on the position of one of the Soul Transformation Realm disciples.
She encased the string of her bow and the arrow with Qi, locked onto the guy's head, then released!
*Swoosh!*
The young man cultivating right outside the mine suddenly opened his eyes, feeling something was wrong!
Qi burst out of his body, surrounding his vitals. He then tried to dodge out of the way, but before he could do that-
*Pop!*
*FWOOSH!*
-a stream of Wind Qi exploded out behind the arrow, like a second thruster on a rocket, increasing its speed and penetrative force.
"WHO-?!"
*Puchi!*
The man felt imminent danger and tried to block it, but the arrow had already entered his skull, killing him on the spot.
Eden nodded her head, stored her bow and arrows, pulled out a short one-handed mace, and made her way toward the mine's entrance.
"The others should be finished by now as well."
***
Eden was right as Everly and Rayna were finishing up. Nova and Seraphine decided to sit this one out as they simply made too much noise.
Nova only knows how to blow shit up, and Seraphine isn't exactly someone meant for these kinds of stealthy missions. Her fighting style is a bit… unique in the cultivation world. Maybe even equally as rare as Mira!
Rayna was the only real assassin in the group, and it showed. Her presence thinned so much that even if someone stood right in front of her, they might not notice her. This kind of situation was like her playground.
She'd disappear from one spot, then suddenly appear in another right behind her target. Then, she'd disappear again, leaving behind a headless corpse.
From start to finish, they never even knew someone was there. They just died. However, the peculiar part about Rayna's kills was that all the cuts were so clean that it was as if they were surgically removed.
***
On the other hand, Everly was more normal. Although she wasn't as stealthy as Rayna, she had an affinity for Fire and Lightning thanks to her Heavenly Thunderfire Physique, giving her incredible power and speed.
She used that to her advantage to cut her enemies down with her saber in the shortest possible time.
With a burst of lightning, she'd come crashing into her opponent and chop them in half before they could even react.
In just a few minutes, Mira's group entirely cleaned up the outside of the mine, killing all the guards so silently that not a single person inside heard them.
***
Inside the mine, Mira, Maria, and the others met up with one another to make sure they killed everyone, not leaving a single person behind.
"Well, that was easy," Everly said, and the others nodded, but a few weren't happy, mainly Seraphine and Nova.
"Hmph! I didn't even get to do anything," Seraphine pouted.
"That's because you're too rambunctious, Sera. Everything's going smoothly so far. We don't need you messing everything up. You'll be much more useful when shit hits the fan, so don't worry. You'll have your time to shine," Eden said, trying to cheer her up a bit.
Seraphine's eyes glittered, and she nodded excitedly, "Mhm! I'm looking forward to it!"
Mira interrupted them, "Alright, that's enough chit-chat. Let's finish up this mine so we can move on to the next."
Mira turned around to descend into the mine but then stopped halfway and looked over her shoulder, her eyes glowing.
"Oh, and remember… No survivors."
