Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

Unaware of the happenings of the outside world, Fenrir spent most of her time cooped up within the stone cavern where Geng Chao had resided. Previously, it had been a relatively spartan abode with very few furnishings since it was common for the surroundings to be affected while cultivating. Now, however, the cavern had become suffused with a dense Yin Elemental energy while every surface was covered in bluish-white ice. At the very center, hovering within the air in a seated lotus position, Fenrir could be seen with closed eyes, dense strands of devouring energy rising off her body like steam.Strangely, even when she completely shrouded herself with devouring energy, Fenrir noticed that the clothing she had produced with magic wasn't affected. If she ended up becoming naked while using the shroud, Fenrir would 'have' to kill everyone that saw her body. Now, while trying to comprehend the Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix, Fenrir was also trying to get an understanding of how to use this terrifying energy to her advantage.Fenrir knew it was possible for her to completely forgo cultivation, increasing her power without any upper limit, but this would put a heavy strain on her mentality. If her soul could not develop at the same rate as her strength, her mind would be affected until she became a crazed beast that knew nothing outside of devouring 'literally' everything. This wasn't the route Fenrir wanted to walk, even though it would be much easier since she wouldn't have to 'think' and feel lonely anymore...In order to make her Master proud, Fenrir was determined to increase the strength of her soul through cultivation, relying on her devouring energy only when the situation called for it. She was already very strong and, by mastering the Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix, which gave the user mastery over Ice and Yin Elemental energy, Fenrir knew she would become much stronger. However, recorded int he cultivation manual, there were also various warnings about mastering such a skill, even though the potential boons were immense...The Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix could only be cultivated by those with powerful Yin-type constitutions. As a result of this energy, the body and soul would become refined, even allowing a person to create a 'Phoenix Soul' within their Dantian, the place where Qi was supposed to be stored. Though Fenrir didn't have a Dantian, the vortex in her stomach served a similar purpose and, if she adapted the Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix properly, it shouldn't be impossible to develop her own Phoenix Soul. This would allow her to have both a physical and spiritual form which would allow her body to reform if it was destroyed...This wasn't without any downsides, however, even though the downsides could also be considered a boon under specific circumstances. Those that cultivated Yin, Ice, and Water Elementals Laws, having their bodies refined under these 'female' energies, would become inordinately beautiful as a result. It wasn't just on the surface either, as even their bones would come to possess a jade-like quality with a pseudo-transparent appearance like pristine ice crystals. Their skin would become fair like snow while even the hair on their bodies would become glossy, gaining a silky quality that would put the actual fabric to shame...As a result of these physical changes, those that cultivated techniques like the Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix would obviously draw a lot of attention to themselves. If they did not posses the strength to protect themselves, or lacked an environment that allowed them to grow without interference, the outcome of such individuals was usually terrible. This was because every male cultivator, especially those specializing in Yang Elemental techniques, would seek out females with such a constitution to receive the benefits from dual-cultivating with them. In the worst case scenario, instead of using methods like dual-cultivation, the females would be treated as a 'furnace', having their own strength sacrificed for the growth of those that used Yang Elemental cultivation techniques...Upon learning this information, Fenrir came to understand why so many of the girly men had been eying her with possessive and disgusting eyes. They wanted to use her as a furnace to increase their own strength, playing with her body as they pleased until she was no longer useful. This revelation caused Fenrir's heart and mind to become even colder as the resolve to kill anyone that harbored such intentions towards her was firmly rooted in both. Now, when she rose to prominence and became strong enough to force change in the world, Fenrir had an idea about the first thing that she would change. She knew it wasn't 'necessary' for such malicious and evil techniques to be used in order to increase a person's strength so she would completely destroy any Sect that made use of such techniques until even the memory of such techniques fades from history...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Disgusting...!')

Without noticing the passage of time, nearly two months had passed when Fenrir finally made headway in her cultivation technique. In total, there were nine steps to achieve a basic mastery of the Sacred Heart of the Ice Phoenix, with the first three steps focused on purifying one's body and soul to make it more adaptable to Ice and Yin elemental energies. Since she already had affinities relating to these elements, which had been refined through her use of the meditation technique, Heart of Eternal Ice, Mind of Still Water. Now, each breath she drew condensed the Ice, Water, and Yin elemental energies in the air while every exhale produced small particulates of ice that could freeze the surrounding air.Upon opening her eyes, Fenrir's nose scrunched up, not because there was a foul smell, but because there was a distinct lack of the expected stench. The first three stages of the Sacred Heart of the Ice Phoenix were supposed to purify the meridian and expel impurities from the body. Now that she had achieved a basic mastery of the first stage, there should have been a foul black paste expelled from her body. Instead, Fenrir's skin remained unblemished and, other than gaining a soft glow that made her skin seem even fairer than before, there were no other changes.It would take a bit of time for Fenrir to understand just how different she was compared to others as, from the very beginning, her body had already been in a purified state. From the moment she had been named by Vahn, Fenrir's body had been comprised of Source Energy, the purest possible form it could take. Even if she had a normal metabolic process, requiring the consumption of food, Fenrir's body would break down anything she had eaten before converting it into Source. Though she wasn't able to make use of this incredibly pure energy, as even the most powerful entities in the record would be unable to sense it, Fenrir would have no real bottlenecks during cultivation.Though she failed to understand exactly why, Fenrir had a smile on her otherwise expressionless face as she ran her palm along her smooth skin and thought of her Master. She felt that, even though the distance between them was unfathomable, he was still somehow protecting her. In order to make him proud, she was determined to grow much stronger until there was nothing in the world that could endanger her life. When he finally showed up to retrieve her, Fenrir wanted to be able to show him around a world where people smiled happily instead of taking advantage of each other.With that thought in mind, Fenrir exited her seclusion and moved to a concealed area where a flat training area had been carved into the mountain. There were a series of techniques related to the first stage of the Sacred Heart of the Ice Phoenix and, in order to reach the second stage, she would need to master the basic forms. Fortunately, compared to the complex structure of Magic that she had learned from Eva, most of the techniques listed in the first stage simply required channeling energy in a specific way. Instead of forming a magic circle, all Fenrir had to do was use Ice and Yin Elemental energy through certain meridians, essentially using her own body as the foundation for the structure of the technique.After stretching her body for a few minutes, as Fenrir knew it was important to make sure your body was warmed up before exercising, she adopted a neutral stance that gave her an elegant and static appearance. Instead of being 'flashy', which complex stances and maneuvers, the techniques related to the Sacred Heart of the Ice Phoenix seemed to focus on 'beauty in simplicity', requiring very minute gestures instead of grandiose movements. As a result, Fenrir's eyes flashed with an icy light as she simply pressed forward with her palm, condensing Ice and Ying elemental energy into the shape of a misty white palm that shot out like a beam of light.After hitting the black slab that was meant to absorb even the attacks of an expert at the Golden Core Realm, the palm made a pure white indentation against the metallic surface before the entire thing became covered in a layer of ice. When Fenrir saw this, her eyes squinted, slightly pleased by the outcome, as she walked over and pat against the ice, causing the seemingly indestructible metallic slab to fracture as the energy from her attack had even penetrated the very molecular structure of the target, freezing it through completely...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Very ice...(o,...,o)')

With a powerhouse like Fenrir passing down 'judgment' upon them, there wasn't much the Heavenly Moon Sect could do to refute her. Wen Xiulan, under almost any other circumstance, would have never turned over her Cultivation technique to another. However, after witnessing how powerful Fenrir already was, it seemed rather senseless for her to treat it as something sacred. She had already dedicated decades of her life to supporting the Heavenly Moon Sect and, now that she had become the Sect Leader, Wen Xiulan didn't want to see it brought to ruin because of the foolishness of the deceased...Much like she had stated, Fenrir had absolutely no interest in seizing the Heavenly Moon Sect for herself. After getting a copy of Wen Xiulan's 'Sacred Heart of the Divine Phoenix', she moved to the top of the mountain where Geng Chao previously resided and went into her own seclusion. She did, however, promise to help protect the Sect and, should Wen Xiulan have any issues, Fenrir allowed her to bring the problem to her attention. In truth, her impression of Wen Xiulan wasn't that bad and, much like the women that surrounded her Master, Fenrir could tell she was a good person who cared for others...Contrary to what Fenrir's expectations may have led her to believe, Wen Xiulan had immediately taken decisive action in order to preserve order within the Heavenly Moon Sect. With some of their more opportunistic disciples choosing to flee after Geng Chao's death, she passed the order to detain them on sight should they reemerge. At the same time, excommunication orders for each member were issued within the circles of other Sects and, if it was found they were harboring former Heavenly Moon Sect members, Wen Xiulan promised divine retribution would descend upon them.Wen Xiulan was trying to manipulate information to make it appear as though their standing hadn't simply been reduced, but they had instead come under the protection of a more powerful force. It was impossible to prevent word of Geng Chao's and Tian Gengxin's death from spreading, meaning there would certainly be more than a few Sects who would seek trouble with them in the future. By putting on a strong front and taking decisive action, Wen Xiulan wanted to cause these forces to hesitate by making them believe the Sect wasn't weakened but had instead become much stronger.To emphasize this even further, one of Wen Xiulan's first decisions as Sect Leader was to change the Sect's name to the 'Devouring Moon Sect', with their emblem becoming a wolf's head with a crescent behind it. They had needed to update their Sect tokens so that the various runaways wouldn't be able to claim they were still members, causing their reputation to take a hit if they decided to exploit their former status. To prevent this possibility, Wen Xiulan sent out several messengers and servants to pass her decree to the smaller Sects while giving limited information about what exactly had happened...In Wen Xiulan's words, the former Grand Elder and the Sect Master had conspired against the student of a powerful Senior named Vahn Mason. As a result, the student had slaughtered both of them but, being a righteous practitioner, she and her Master had become Guest Elders and Protectors of the Devouring Moon Sect. Though Wen Xiulan felt a little cheap, using the name of Fenrir's dead Master to try and scare people, the fear of an unknown Senior who could raise a student capable of easily defeating a Golden Core Cultivator would cause them to exercise extreme caution...(Fenrir's Commentary: '??? Someone is saying good things about Master...???')

Chapter 68: Cultivation