Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

Not caring about anything within Heavenly Moon City, Fenrir quickly made her way through the sky, heading towards the place where the city had earned its name, the Heavenly Moon Sect. It was located at the top of a massive mountain, nearly 300km in height, but Fenrir wasn't daunted by its size and quickly began ascending up the steep slope. Since it was very difficult to fly when you ascended higher, Fenrir ended up landing and used her instant movement technique, [Shundo], to race up the mountain like it was flat ground.Fenrir noticed that, the further she climbed, the greater the density of energy within the environment, especially those related to Ice, Wind, Snow, Water, and Yin elemental energies. At the same time, there was a higher concentration of Qi present, which Fenrir was able to suck in through her mouth, using her [Devour] skill to process it as simple as some people drew breath. She was trying to compensate for the expenditure of her energy while also increasing her strength, even if it was by a very marginal amount...Though it would have taken normal disciples several hours to ascend the steep slopes of the Heaven Moon Mountain, Fenrir had made the journey in under ten minutes. The increased density of energy made her feel very refreshed and, even though the winds were cold enough to freeze a normal person in an instant, she felt comfortable within the icy environment. This didn't last for long, however, as she quickly approached a massive wall that was several hundred meters tall and manned by several men and women wearing white robes with blue accents on them. Their sleeves had small moon emblems sewn into them while a jade slip was fixed to a loop attached to the sashes many of them wore.Seeing an unexpected arrival at their front entrance, a few of the gate guards came forward while their leader shouted, "Halt, traveler! State your business or leave this mountain. If you wish to join the Sect, you will need to go to Heavenly Moon City and apply through the outer branches first!" Since the girl before them looked very young, they assumed she was someone that wanted to joined the Sect and, though they were impressed she had made it up the mountain, there were procedures that everyone had to follow.Though their Sect Master advocated individual strength, their Palace Master still enforced the practice that everyone had to start from the bottom and work their way up. Those that didn't have the patience to rise through the ranks with hard work would also lack the patience to truly reach the peaks of cultivation. She believed that advancing too quickly, without going through the same experiences as your fellow disciples, would cause people to become arrogant and corrupt, causing more trouble than the investments into their cultivation would have been worth...Fenrir, unaware of these things, simply shook her head and explained, "I don't care about joining your Sect. I have come here to speak with the Palace Master, Wen Xiulan. Tell her that the Mercenary Queen, Fenrir, has come to speak with her..."Hearing the young girl before them refer to herself as 'Mercenary Queen', many of the guards were shocked while some amongst them couldn't believe it at all. However, none of them refuted her claim outright since offending someone at the Foundation Building Realm, especially when they looked very young, simply wasn't worth it.The head guard who had stopped her simply asked for verification of her status before sending a messenger to pass word to the Palance Master. They then tried to invite her into a small waiting area for tea but Fenrir refused them and said she will wait for Wen Xiulan to arrive. Seeing how she was behaving, many of the disciples began to worry that trouble had come to their Sect without warning...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'This place is very relaxing...hmm...')

Though she was kept waiting for a while, Fenrir didn't mind that much since the atmosphere atop the mountain was very relaxing. She could feel herself growing marginally stronger just by staying in this place, filled to the brim with Ice, Water, and Yin Elemental energy. From this, Fenrir could understand why the woman named Wen Xiulan chose to cultivate here, as the energy contained in the atmosphere was very similar to the ice bed she once used in her previous world...Thinking of the bed her Master had gifted her caused Fenrir to lapse into thoughts of the times she had spent curled up within his warm embrace. Even though she liked the cold, being next to her Master was always the most comfortable spot, no matter if it was hundreds of degrees above or below zero...Eventually, a woman with a pure white gown, long black hair, stark blue eyes, and unblemished white skin showed up at the gate. Upon seeing her, Fenrir couldn't help but feel that her Master would have been fond of such a woman, as she was almost on the level of some of the girls that stayed within the Manor. However, as there was also an icy cold feeling radiating off of her, causing others to naturally distance themselves, Fenrir wasn't so sure. She didn't believe this woman would be able to get along with the others, meaning she would have likely destroyed the happy balance everyone had worked so hard to create.At the same time that Fenrir was sizing her up, Wen Xiulan was doing the same, abjectly shocked to see the young woman before her. Though she couldn't sense the girl's cultivation, Wen Xiulan could sense the Qi in the atmosphere flowing into the girl as if it were perfectly natural, something others could only achieve with intense meditation. The most surprising thing, however, was the fact that the density of Ice and Yin energies around the young girl's body were beyond anything she had ever experienced before, making her own Heavenly Yin Body seem inconsequential in comparison.Though she didn't believe such an anomalous woman had come here to become a disciple of their Heavenly Moon Sect, Wen Xiulan still harbored a small amount of hope as she said, "Greetings, Little Sister...have you come here to join our Heavenly Moon Sect? Someone with your talent would be welcome with open arms. Though you would have to start off at the outer branch, I can give you a jade slip that would allow you to identify yourself as my personal disciple..."From Wen Xiulan's perspective, the girl before her was a talent that every Sect within the continent would fight over, especially those that used Yin and Yang cultivation techniques. For the former, she would become a phenomenal disciple that could easily rise to the rank of Junior Sect Master. As for the latter...well, such things were what plagued the nightmares of many women who cultivated such techniques. Anyone that cultivates a Yang-based cultivation method would stop at nothing to get their hands on such a capable 'furnace'...Remembering her own struggles in her youth, Wen Xiulan tried to put on a kind and inviting appearance, believing the girl before her knew exactly how unfair the world could be. If she chose to become a disciple of the Heavenly Moon Sect, Wen Xiulan resolved to teach her to the best of her abilities. She could tell that the girl, while having a cold and somewhat ferocious disposition, was actually someone whose heart was hurting. Though her scarlet red eyes cast an intimidating light, there was also a deep loneliness contained within, something only people with their constitution could understand...Fenrir, after hearing the words of the woman in front of her, immediately shook her head and stated in a firm tone, "I will only ever have one Master, and he is not in this world..."(Fenrir's Commentary: 'If she works hard, she might be able to become a maid...')

After taking the four rings, Fenrir noticed there was ambient energy preventing her from inserting a thread of her consciousness into them. It didn't really make much difference to her, however, as she unhesitantly tossed them into her mouth, causing the energy of the items contained within to break down within her mouth. She didn't care about the look of shock on the faces of the five men and swallowed down the energy-rich liquid, allowing it to be processed by her body as she said, "I am Fenrir, a Mercenary Queen. Since you have apologized, I will spare you this time. You should teach your disciples to show more restraint and humility. If they go around acting like idiots, they will likely offend someone that can't afford to offend...this is the only warning I will give you..."Huo Yan Er was shocked to the core when he saw the emblem that had been produced by the young woman before him. He knew she was strong, but the fact she was associated with the Mercenary Guild meant they had just survived pulling on the tail of a dragon. A cold sweat began to spread across his body as, much like the four men behind him, he bowed at a forty-degree angle and exclaimed, "Thank you for your mercy, Queen Fenrir! We will take your words to heart!"Fenrir gave a small nod when she saw the men bow, deciding they could be useful for information so she asked, "Tell me, what is the most powerful Ice, Water, or Yin cultivation technique you have heard of...?" Since she hadn't been able to get any information on cultivation techniques from the Mercenary Guild, even with her rank, Fenrir decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask a Sect. They were supposed to be a group of people who focused on cultivation so, even if they didn't have a method of their own, it was possible that they would know of a suitable technique located elsewhere.Though he was a little confused about why such a powerful person was asking them about cultivation techniques, Huo Yan Er buried the matter in his heart as he answered, "The strongest technique I know of personally would belong to the Palace Master of the Heavenly Moon Sect, Wen Xiulan. She is a known practitioner of the Sacred Ice of the Divine Phoenix technique...as for other techniques, I'm afraid this old man is unaware of anything stronger..." This wasn't entirely true, but Huo Yan Er didn't want to inadvertently offend the young girl by telling her about rare techniques that were only passed through rumors. If she came back, accusing him of lying to her, there would be little he could think of to escape her wrath the second time...Fenrir turned her eyes towards the massive mountain looming to the north, asking, "Is she at the top of that mountain...?" Even without waiting for the answer, Fenrir knew this was the case since the men were startled by her words. Since she had the information she wanted, Fenrir left the area without bothering to listen to what they had to say. She suspected they would try to warn her, or say something about trying to foster friendship between them, both things she didn't care about at all. Since she already knew where to go in order to increase her strength, the only thing Fenrir needed was a cultivation technique that suited her. If this person, Wen Xiulan, had such a technique, Fenrir would ask her to hand it over...whether she was willing or not...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Wen Xiulan...I hope the compensation you seek is not too severe...for both of our sakes...)

Chapter 52: Ascent