Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

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...')

Without any suspense, Quan Zhen was eliminated from the tournament by Gong Xinyue's fiery whip. To make matters even worse, the flames on his body began to increase in intensity, resulting in the youth screaming in a high-pitched manner as he struggled to pat them out with his bare hands. This only caused the flames to spread even further as he screamed, "AAAAAH! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!"Truth be told, Gong Xinyue was going easy on her opponent but, in order to make sure others had second thoughts about trying to take advantage of her, she needed to set a hard example. Since her opponent should have been able to protect himself with his Qi, at least a little bit, she didn't expect him to behave in such a manner.It was only after several second that Quan Zhen finally managed to extinguish the flames on his body. This earned him a lot of incredulous looks from the crowd but, as if he didn't see them, he pointed toward Gong Xinyue and shouted, "You devilish woman! You must be some a disguised Demonic Beast! I'll make you-"Despite there being nearly twenty meters between them, Gong Xinyue's whip seemed to defy logic as it easily extended the full distance to Quan Zhen, striking him across his chest. This sent the youth flying backward once again but, at the same time, a shadow leaped into the arena from the viewing stands, shouting, "You dare attack my brother after the match has already ended!? What a wicked and outrageous display...!"As the tournament was opened specifically to recruit outsiders, there were a number of people who had gathered to join in the rather festive event. This included aspirants who wanted to join the Sect but, as such events always drew a crowd, a number of Mercenaries and Vagrant Cultivators were also in attendance.Quan Zhen was an example of someone who had ventured to newly named Devouring Moon City as he had also heard the rumors of the mysterious individual who had run rampant through the city. He, along with many others, wanted to catch sight of this figure as, according to some of the rumors that had spread, she was supposed to be a young woman with unique features.The most important part of the rumors that had been spread was that this same woman practiced an incredibly powerful Yin Cultivation Technique so, while the chances of obtaining her for yourself were slim, belonging to the same Sect as a powerful female provided various opportunities. After all, when the strongest member of a Sect was female, there were generally more females within the Sect than males. Thus, for many errant Cultivators who wanted to take shortcuts on their path to power, they were very eager to try their hand at courting such a powerful and mysterious beauty...Though she hadn't exactly dropped her guard, Gong Xinyue was surprised when a member of the crowd suddenly leaped in from her blindspot to attack her. She instinctively twisted her body in a very limber fashion, shouting, "Shameless...!" in a cold voice as her whip quickly darted back like a bolt of flaming lightning toward her new attacker.While her flaming whip would have been able to deal with most Cultivators of a similar level, it was very apparent that the man sneak attacking her wasn't a standard participant of the tournament. He was able to grab the whip with his bare hands as flames of his own making covered his forearm.Before Gong Xinyue was able to fully understand what was happening, the man showed a malicious smile on his face as he coldly uttered, "A woman has no place wielding flames. I'll be taking this...!"With considerable ease, the man yanked the whip and, like a lure used for fishing, Gong Xinyue was pulled off her feet due to her habit of tightly holding onto her weapon. At the same time, the man made a three-pronged claw with his right hand as he attempted to strike toward her chest with an obviously lethal amount of force.(Fenrir's Commentary: '....')

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...')

Chapter 82: Fiery