The explosion that followed was cataclysmic, sending shockwaves that tore through the ice caves with ferocious intensity. Mira, Yanira, and Hana, huddled in the hastily made foxhole, could only brace as the world around them seemed to end.
The ground shook violently, a tumultuous roar drowning out any attempts at speech, while the barrier Mira erected was instantly evaporated as the cave collapsed on top of them.
Outside, the blizzard that had raged with relentless vigor paused as if the very storm itself was stunned into silence by the magnitude of the blast. The mountains surrounding the valley trembled, avalanches cascading down their slopes in thunderous flows of snow and ice, obliterating anything in their path.
The earth itself seemed to groan under the force, fissures ripping open as if trying to swallow the aftermath whole.
When the initial explosion subsided, a stifling silence took over, broken only by the settling of disturbed ice and rock. The world then went still for a moment.
From all sides of Crescent Ridge Basin, the other Sect Masters stopped what they were doing and looked over. Whether they were looting, fighting, running, or wandering, they all paused, recognizing the origin of the explosion.
Suddenly, a boisterous laugh echoed through the silence. "Hahahaha~! It seems some idiot bit off more than they could chew!" Master Lei of the Thunderstrike Pavilion shook his head before he reached down and plucked a fiery flower that seemed oddly out of place in the icy blizzard. "I wonder who it was... Oh! Who am I kidding?! It's obviously that woman, Yanira!
Hahaha~! Only someone like her could make an enemy want to kill themselves!"
Master Shen Xian, who was the closest to the explosion, landed lightly on the ground, spreading his Divine Sense before shaking his head. "I can only pray that whoever's down there survived." He said before muttering, "...Though if it was bastard Lei... Well, I guess things wouldn't be so bad." He carried on like nothing happened.
The other Sect Masters were even more indifferent. After a few shocking seconds that a Rank 9 beast would actually suicide, they went back to what they were doing.
Check out the aftermath? Ensure the person involved was alright? None of those things even crossed their minds. They might not be at war, but as is the nature of the world, competition was fierce.
One less Sect Master meant more loot for them. Not to mention, digging through a mountain sounded like a huge waste of time. There were no benefits to lending a helping hand.
Though, they may come to regret that decision...
***
Minutes after the explosion.
"Cough... Cough..."
Deep underneath the mountain, a muffled cough was heard. Crushed by jagged ice and rock, she tried to move but found that she couldn't. Whether it was the literal mountain weighing down on her or her broken body, she wasn't sure. Either way, she was stuck.
"Cough... Cough... I-Is... Is everyone alright?"
"..."
No one responded.
She could still feel a little girl wrapped tightly inside her tails, so she shook her.
"H-Hana," She coughed out. "Wake up. The explosion's over. We can leave now."
For the first time in a while, Mira swept her consciousness through her Storage Space and was surprised by how much loot she had accumulated.
'I'm glad that there's an auto-sorter function, or else it'd be impossible to find anything.'
She searched through arrays, talismans, weapons, explosives, and other utility items, but none were all that helpful.
Mira couldn't use her hands right now, and her Qi was run dry. There wasn't much room for Spirit Stones, either. So, the amount of things that they could use was very limited.
'For now, I'll just take out a few Late-Stage Spirit Stones and slowly recover my Qi.'
With a mental command, around a dozen shiny blue stones appeared around her, filling the hole with Qi.
'Next, I need to restore some vitality.' Pills and herbs could do the trick, but she was severely lacking in the former, and the latter weren't nearly as effective in their raw forms.
'Beast blood it is, then.'
As Rank 9 beast blood was the best, she took out a glob of worm blood and swallowed it. However, her face scrunched up at the rancid, spicy taste of it.
'Fuck! I forgot that thing was poisonous! But seriously, even its blood? What the hell are those worms?' She inwardly retched but still forced it down.
Now that it was dead, the poison wasn't nearly as potent. It was still enough to hurt her, but her poison immunity was high enough to lessen the effects enough to where it wouldn't burn a hole through her stomach.
She could feel her destruction and creation aspects, the runes built into her DNA, breaking down the substances, refining them, and sending high-quality vitality throughout her body. That's when she realized she was in even worse shape than she thought.
'Damn! I'm really fucked up, huh? This is going to take a little longer than I thought.' She thought with a scowl.
'Use this as a lesson. I need a technique to get through an enemy's defenses. I won't allow another self-destruction like this again.' She made a mental note, understanding that she wasn't invincible. She could still die if someone were really adamant about killing her.
Blood continuously poured down Mira's throat, along with chunks of flesh that she used to supplement some of the missing nutrients.
Her body greedily absorbed everything it could, like a desert getting its first rainfall. The Spirit Stones were quickly used and replaced. The crackling of bones could be heard as her body was being put back together.
Even her mind was busy as she used this time to determine the path to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.
The breathing behind her became fainter and fainter over time, but Mira remained calm. As long as she regained her strength, breaking out was possible.
At least, that's what she hoped.
As their little group was focused on recovering, an oppressive aura swept through the mountain, even across the entire valley. The ground rumbled once again before a burst of Qi rose straight to the sky, annihilating everything in its way.
A familiar yet different ear-piercing screech followed the destruction, causing Mira and Yanira's expressions to change.
Listening to its sorrowful yet rage-filled cries, they only had one thought.
'Fuck!'