Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

While seated atop a high platform that overlooked a large arena, Wen Xiulan had a contemplative look on her face as she watched another exciting battle play out before her. Due to the number of aspirants trying to join the Devouring Moon Sect right now, she was the one who came up with the idea of hosting a tournament. Though it went against her principle of establishing oneself through hard work, it couldn't be denied that anyone who was able to rise up through the tournament had, at the very least, a decent foundation.Since the number of official Disciples had dipped considerably during the previous 'purge', Wen Xiulan had made an exception in order to introduce some fresh blood into the Sect. When she learned that some of the contestants were around the Third and Fourth Stages of the Qi Refining Realm, Wen Xiulan had been pleasantly surprised. Her own Direct Disciple, Jia Cai, was only at the Fifth Stage of Qi Refining so, even though the aspirants were a little older than she was, it was still very promising to have such talent wanting to join the Sect.With her icy blue eyes glimmering indiscernibly, appearing as nothing more than a cold gaze to any observers, Wen Xiulan watched as a young man with uncharacteristically short black hair and burly muscles made short work of his opponent. He used a peculiar spear with a level of grace that his large figure would have belied, nimbly dancing around his opponent with a surprising amount of caution as he used the flat side of his spear to slowly whittle the other young man down.Seeing that the spear-wielding man showed due caution, even against an opponent two full Stages lower than him, showed that he was a very level headed and calm individual. Though he could have won the fight in just a few exchanges, he instead closely observed his opponent so as not to be caught by surprise. In this world, such a trait was relatively rare and, if he managed to rise to higher degrees of Cultivation, he would become a true powerhouse. After all, while some may misconstrue his actions as cowardice, Wen Xiulan could see a blazing fervor in the man's intelligent eyes.After failing to hit his opponent after tens of exchanges, the sword-wielding youth had a deeply set frown on his face as he mustered up all of his strength into a single thrust. Powerful winds began to dance around his body and, as if becoming a phantom, he launched himself forward with incredible momentum, using a speed that he had yet to master. In response to this, the spear-user, Zhu Qiu, twisted his body in a nimble circle, drawing a crescent with his graceful footwork as he swiped down at a low angle with his spear.Unable to arrest his own speed, the sword-wielding youth's eyes turned round as saucers as the spear swept his feet rather unceremoniously. Then, with his balance disrupted, he tumbled hard into the ground, crashing into the stage shoulder-first with a loud fracturing sound spreading throughout the small arena. Some of the awaiting contestants drew in sharp breaths when they heard this while, after tripping his opponent, Zhu Qiu brought his hands together, bowing respectfully as he said, "You can become even stronger in the future. When you master that technique, I will once again be your opponent..."Though the sword-wielding youth didn't appreciate the courtesy, many of the Senior members of the Devouring Moon Sect gave approving nods. Wen Xiulan had already decided to allow Zhu Qiu to join the Sect, regardless of his placement, so it was encouraging to see him show respect and try to encourage his opponents to improve. It had been apparent from the start that he wanted the sword-wielding youth to use all of his techniques, not in an effort to embarrass him but to polish his own skills, even against a weaker opponent.When Zhu Qiu left the stage, the next to come up was an uncharacteristically tall woman who, at a glance, had an uncommon disposition. Like Zhu Qiu, she was at the Fourth Stage of Qi Refining and, with her sharp gaze and uncommon purple eyes, it was clear to everyone witnessing the tournament that she was a contender for first place. Her aura alone would have allowed her to stand out but, when she pulled out a whip that began to dance with flames, there was genuine surprise in the eyes of onlookers, Wen Xiulan included...After looking at the brackets, the judge raised his hand, shouting, "The thirteenth match between Gong Xinyue and Quan Zhen will now begin...!" Immediately following this outburst, the young man who had been caught off guard by the flaming whip felt his scalp tingle as, like a living creature, the whip snaked toward him like lightning as the referee's words still lingered in his ears...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Pretty flowers...')

The difference between Cultivators at different stages, depending on the skill and elemental matchup, was oftentimes an insurmountable gap. As it took an extreme amount of effort to transition between each stage, someone at the Second or Third stage was often twice as strong as someone at the First or Second. Thus, with Gong Xinyue being at the Fourth Stage of Qi Refining, while her opponent was only at the First Stage, the best her opponent could do was draw out the battle to make a better impression on the Judges.Unfortunately for Quan Zhen, Gong Xinyue's temperament could be just as fiery as her Cultivation method, causing her to unceremoniously lash out with her whip and sending it slicing across the pale-faced youth's chest. As a result, he was sent careening from the arena like a kite that had its strings cut, slamming hard into the outside walls before ultimately plopping to the ground.Seeing how fierce Gong Xinyue's attack was, many in the crowed sharply inhaled while some shook their head in dissatisfaction, muttering things like, "Of course a woman who uses Fire Qi would be a brute..." or "So vicious. She is like an unleashed Tigress...!".Since Cultivators all had excellent senses, Gong Xinyue heard most of these comments but, believing such remarks were just how the weak expressed their pettiness, she ignored them with a cold glint in her uncharacteristically purple eyes. This earned her a few nods of approval from many of the older Cultivators who, unlike their younger counterparts, knew the road towards true strength was a long and arduous path. If you allowed yourself to suffer setbacks by getting riled up at every middling remark from those weaker than yourself, you would be drowned in the monotony of the average.It was generally considered 'proper' for those who wielded true talent and power to be somewhat haughty and prideful by nature as, if not them, who else had the right to be? Any sign of weakness would be exploited by your enemies, this being doubly so for any Cultivators who were females. As male Cultivators easily outnumbered their fairer counterparts, almost four to one, females were just a small minority that was often exploited, even in the so-called righteous Sects. This was due to the fact that many of the more established families focused on grooming their male heirs and, with the body of female cultivators one of the greatest aids to increase the potential of a man, there was no end to the number of tragic stories, so commonplace that even children as young as three or four knew the 'truth' of the world...Being one of the few to 'escape' the vicious cycle, even though she was still in danger of sharing the same fate if captured, Wen Xiulan looked down at Gong Xinyue with a ruminating gaze. Though she felt the latter's disposition was a little too fiery, that was something that could be fixed with proper guidance. Thus, even though many of the other contestants made snide remarks, she had decided to make Gong Xinyue one of her personal disciples in the future. Hopefully, before their Sect Guardian decided their small mountain was no longer suitable for her training, they would all be able to grow strong enough to protect themselves from outside forces...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'I miss Master's cooking. The food stalls in this world only serve bland items...')

Unaware as to what was happening in the outside world, Fenrir found herself in a state of deep and focused meditation. A persistent sphere of stable blue energy surrounded her body as the sealed cavern, now bereft of oxygen in its entirety, rippled with spatial fluctuations. She had the appearance of a nebulous star but, instead of shining its light down upon the creatures of the world, only the fate of being devoured was promised to anyone witnessing this phenomenon.Even Fenrir didn't know how long she had been within her meditative state but, feeling that the density of the surrounding energy had started to dissipate, she released a slow sigh of stagnant air. With the devouring energy surrounding her body, not even air was able to reach her lungs so it had been a long time since she had even drawn a breath of fresh air.Accompanying Fenrir's exhalation, the energy surrounding her body retracted into her pores before she lightly landed on the ground with a gentle 'pa' sound. She could feel the pressure in the room had changed since the time she had entered into a meditative state, causing a powerful backdraft when she finally unsealed the chamber. Even with the sudden and instantaneous change in pressure, Fenrir didn't even flinch as she took slow and casual steps out into the cool mountain air. Though there was now a distinct decrease in the amount of Yin Elemental Energy in the surroundings, it was still very pleasant to feel the sub-zero temperature tickle her increasingly fair skin...With nothing better to do, Fenrir spent a few hours familiarizing herself with her newfound strength before ultimately deciding to descend the mountain. Though she didn't particularly care about the people of the Devouring Moon Sect, she was still supposed to be their acting Guardian. Until she had mastered the Sacred Heart of the Ice Phoenix, she would look after them and make sure they weren't bullied by the other Sects located in the Western Badlands.Upon arriving within the Sect's grounds, Fenrir noticed that the number of disciples had sharply decreased compared to her last visit. This caused her face to scrunch up into a frown before she practically sent one unfortunate Disciple's soul fleeing from their body after appearing next to her with [Shundo]. Even if there were a number of people who had yet to see Fenrir with their own eyes, everyone within the Devouring Moon Sect knew what their Guardian looked like. After all, she was the only person with icy blue eyes and midnight blue hair that many of them had even heard of. The fact she had a wild and untamed aura which wasn't all that dissimilar to a blizzard descending upon you only completed the image of her 'natural-disaster-like' existence...Not caring about the young woman's surprise, Fenrir immediately questioned, "Where is everyone? Was there an enemy attack...?"While doing her best to control her breathing, the young woman gave a deep bow and saying, "Su Jiuli greets Sect Guardian!" Then, fearing that Fenrir might not be fond of her delayed response, the girl immediately answered, "Sect Master and many of Disciples have descended the mountain to observe the selection tournament within 'Devouring Moon City'. In order to reorganize the internal structure of the Sect, it was decided to hold a tournament to determine who would be recognized as official Disciples...!"Even with Fenrir just staring at her, Su Jiuli felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff with a blade to her throat, moments away from her death. Upon finishing her report, however, Fenrir just gave a small nod before vanishing like a phantom moments later. Then, like a marionette with its strings cut, Su Jiuli plopped down to the ground with a thin layer of sweat covering her youthful face...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'No backbone...')(A/N: For those who haven't been keeping up with EPIC, I have just transitioned to a different world around two weeks ago. Because I have been focused on the direction of that story, even reaching 112k words this week, I haven't been able to split focus on Fenrir's Journey. Since things are starting to reach a stable point, I will try to release a chapter here every 2-3 days. If possible, I will release one per day but I can't make that promise with EPIC being my primary focus.)

Chapter 81: Talents