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 a.s.sociated 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 pract.i.tioner 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 pa.s.sed 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 ma.s.sive 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 friends.h.i.+p 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...)