When Mira sensed the incoming danger, she didn't hesitate to merge into the blizzard and teleport to the other side of her domain.
*BOOOOOOM!!*
Just like she expected, right after she teleported, the surrounding area got blown to pieces, and the shockwave dispersed Mira's blizzard domain.
Luckily, Mira wasn't too injured by the aftermath as she had teleported as far away from it as she could. Still, she couldn't escape the aftershock of a talented Nascent Soul Realm cultivator's attack unscathed.
She felt her arms and legs turn to mush from the shockwave alone, and if it weren't for her new body after breaking through, she would have died.
However, now was not the time to be celebrating. No, the struggle for survival just began! Luckily, Mira had just finished with her preparations and was only waiting for a chance to strike.
More accurately, she had to create a scenario where she could successfully land a hit on his body.
For that, she already had a plan in mind. Therefore, while dust and debris still filled the air, partially blocking the man's perception of her, Mira used this chance to dart in the direction of the Outer Court.
She had no hopes of actually reaching it before the man could catch up to her, but it would make things more efficient later on if she were facing it.
As Mira was running away, Mira moved on to the next step of her plan: To make him anxious/angry.
That's correct. Mira wanted to try and force him to kill her quickly! Whether he got angry, flustered, nervous, or whatever, it didn't matter. As long as his decisions making and rationale took a hit, she would be satisfied.
And what's the best of doing this?
Well, he came here for one thing and one thing only: the supposed treasure. However, from what she could gather, he has no idea what he's actually looking for. All he knows is that he gets the treasure as long as he kills her.
The key point here is that HE has to kill her…
"Boy, weren't you looking to kill me and take whatever treasure fate is leading you to? Do you even know what sort of treasure you're looking for? No, better yet, do you think you'll still get the treasure if you don't kill me? Ah! Now that I think about it, since there's no way for me to win, I might as well just kill myself to prevent your grubby hands from taking my shit!" Mira's cold and emotionless voice rang out and entered the man's ears.
His head shot over in her direction, but the next thing he saw made his blood freeze and caused him to tense up.
Mira had unknowingly created an ice dagger and had already sliced partly into her own neck while showing no signs of stopping. Seeing the emotionless look in her crimson eyes, eyes that felt no pain or remorse at the thought of ending her own life. Eyes that showed her resolve and conviction to prevent him from getting the treasure he so desires.
Truth be told, he's never seen eyes so terrifying in his entire life! He couldn't fathom the depths held within those eyes as they seemed to want to suck the life out of him. Just looking into them for a split second made his body shiver in dread.
Mira doesn't know this, but the man is actually part of a Sect that practices 'Evil' cultivation methods. This Sect isn't well known to the public, and only those that have a certain cultivation base or status are privy to such information, but that doesn't mean they aren't strong.
On the contrary, they are an exceedingly strong force.
Needless to say, growing up in an environment where everyone is against you and only the strong survive, he's seen his fair share of tragedies, slaughters, deaths, torture sessions, and all kinds of debauchery.
He's seen the eyes of those who relish in slaughtering droves of weaklings, along with the eyes of people who love to physically and mentally torment their subjects until they lose their sense of self.
People often say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and he couldn't agree more. However, when he looked into Mira's eyes, it wasn't anything like looking into the eyes of others and seeing their tainted and partially corrupted souls. No, instead of being 'tainted' or 'corrupted', Mira's soul felt entirely black! The icy sensation of death was hidden behind those eyes, and the man seriously wondered what kind of experiences the woman in front of him had gone through where death seemed normal to her.
Whether it be related to her own death or the death of others, he didn't know, but at this point, he also couldn't care!
Mira was about to kill herself at this moment, and he felt that if he didn't kill her now, not only would he lose the treasure, but if she somehow managed to survive, he would spend the coming days in fright. Something that he's never, not once in his life, felt.
Soon, however, his eyes went bloodshot, and all the muscles on his body contracted as he screamed, "ARGH!! I'll kill you!!!"
Deep in his mind, he wasn't sure why he was so agitated. Maybe it was because he felt that the treasure within Mira's possession could change his fate and turn him into someone peerlessly powerful.
There's no way he'd lose such a precious treasure because the owner decided to kill herself in spite just so he wouldn't get it! Although he knew Mira could be lying about that, for some reason, he felt like she wasn't.
It wasn't necessarily because he trusted Mira, but more like since he was led here to kill her, why would he get the treasure if he doesn't kill her?
He would rather not leave it up to chance, even if he can get the treasure without actually killing her.
There's also the fact that the woman in front of him is terrifying. Whether it be her cold, emotionless eyes that won't hesitate to kill herself or her top-notch combat prowess that someone at the 1st Stage of the Core Formation Realm shouldn't have.
He didn't want there to be any possibility of her surviving this mess! He needed to kill her, and he needed to do it right now!!
So, before Mira could actually go through with her suicide attempt, the man disappeared from his spot and appeared right before Mira, all while charging up a full-powered strike!
It might be a bit overkill to use such power against someone with Mira's cultivation, but he couldn't care at this point!
Mira had already predicted that the man would charge at her with everything he's got. So, right before he disappeared, Mira had already started twisting her body, and just as she finished doing a complete 360, the man appeared before her while releasing a punch that contained his full power.
Mira felt an unprecedented amount of danger and knew that if she took this strike head-on, she would die! She'd most likely explode into a bloody pulp without even leaving a body intact.
Fortunately, Mira had already planned ahead. So, while she was in the midst of rotating, she activated her sapphire tail, causing a blue shield to appear around her.
She knew that it wouldn't be strong enough to block his attack completely, but she could at least prevent herself from getting insta-killed.
The man didn't even have time to process what the blue shield around her was as his fist collided with her body.
? The shield around her absorbed almost 40% of the impact before it shattered, allowing the remained 60% to smash into her, crushing her bones, rupturing her organs, and rattling her brain.
However, at the same time, Mira's golden tail, which was now glowing brightly, had swung out and made contact with the man's face!
*CRACK*
"ARGH!!"
A cracking noise followed by a grunt could be heard after Mira's golden tail made contact with the man. Surprisingly, Mira's tail caused the man to be sent flying tens of meters. Unfortunately, Mira was also sent flying through the air at supersonic speeds as a result of the clash.
But this was Mira's goal from the beginning!
Using all of her willpower to stay conscious right now, Mira channeled all of the energy within her icy-blue tail, boosting her affinity with the ice element by 400% for 5 seconds. Immediately after, she used her Paragon Wings technique while also shoving every other element she could control within each 'feather', hoping to boost its strength by even a little.
Thanks to her 400% boost, Mira was able to create these wings in just a split second.
So, while using the momentum that resulted from her clash with the man, Mira powered up the wings and quickly sped off to the Outer Court!
With her current speed, she'd reduced the time it would take her to make it to merely a fraction of what it would've taken her otherwise.
Luckily, she'd also gained a few seconds due to her supercharged hit with the golden tail, but she still wasn't out of the woods yet. That man will probably come charging back at her with even more fervor than before!
All she can do now is make the most out of the next 5 seconds and hope that she won't have to take drastic measures in order to survive.