Titan's Fury - The First Month.

Deep inside the mountain range spanning the distance between the Water and Metal regions existed the Titanic Steel Sect, and situated near the exact centre of that region was the largest mountain peak, and atop the peak was a plateau surrounded by bubbling water that cascaded down the side of the mountain endlessly.

There were also multiple buildings here, many were used for storage or temporary residence for visiting guests of high status but there were three notable locations here, the first was the elder's hall where the regular meetings are scheduled to happen the Elders gather here under the watch of the sect master and report their work, goings-on in the sect and propose changes if needed, this is also the location that the head meeting takes place between all of the Division Heads.

The next area is the sect master's residence, it is a large eastern styled building with most of the area being a large garden that is attended to by many servants daily, it is the resting place and area of cultivation for most of the sect master's, though the current sect master Rong Jia prefers to rest atop the Summit of Trials, much to the dismay of the many trying to reach her in important moments.

The third and final area is possibly the most important one, it holds much historical significance and is treated with great importance till this day.

Placed directly in the centre of the summit was a statue that stood three meters or so tall, this may not be large for a statue but who it was of is what is significant, it is a statue of the first sect master captured in perfect likeness, his long and wavy hair, overflowing beard, piercing eyes and muscular body felt almost lifelike to the eyes, he donned the uniform of the sect master as he stood proudly casted in a sheen of brilliant silver metal.

Compared to the statue located in the park at the base of the mountain in Orefine, this statue was in perfect condition, not just because it has been cared for greatly but because the entire thing is made of high grade mortal spiritual metal! Just this statue would cost the wealth of many clans to make and yet it was here and existed as a mere display by the sect.

However that wasn't the end of it-

While the sect master stood sturdy he held something in his hand, its long handle rested on the ground while its head rested grandly behind his shoulder.

Its form was that of a hammer, but it was not a mere blacksmiths hammer, no it was an instrument of pure destruction; Its metallic head was perfectly flat on one side with a vicious claw on the other and just above the two a gleaming spike that threatened to pierce the world.

It was the first sect master's weapon, a war hammer known as Titan's Fury; Both named after the sheer height of the first sect master and what his enemies suffered when they gained his wrath.

Ever since the first sect master had passed on it had remained here in the grasp of his statue, there was no rule against someone using it as long as they had the sect master's permission, however the simple fact is no one has been able to.

It was too heavy, they couldn't channel their Qi through it among various other reasons, there had not been a suitable user for it in history since it took up display.

There were rumours about it, that it was made by a master forger that no one had ever seen, and it was made with a material surpassing mortal ranks, however no one could ever confirm any of these theories, no one had been granted permission to do so after all.

The only thing people knew was that this hammer may go forever unused if no-one comes to claim it, a thought that makes many sigh with pity.

…

"And that completes my report, sect master" A man's voice silently echoed in the beautiful garden, birds chirping and water gently flowing down the artificial rivers and into the ponds.

"Un, good job Su Wen, you can go now" The sect master, Rong Jia replied, her pure long silver hair gentle fluttering in the gentle breeze as she sat comfortably sipping on some tea as Su Wen was kneeled in front of him.

"Then, I'll see you later" He stood up and bowed, clasping his hands; Su Wen was the man who served as the examiner for Shu He, his moustache and balding hair reinforcing his proud demeanour, he left the area leaving the sect master alone.

Or at least she would have normally been alone, however there was one other person there.

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

Heavy breathing could be heard not too far away from the sect master, a man was currently in the process of doing press ups, something that normally shouldn't have bothered him for a man of his stature and bulk.

Yet each push up he did seemed far harder than the last, he seemed to have an extreme weight pushing down on him as his muscles bulged as hard as they could, his veins pressing against his skin as he breathed heavily while sweat drenched the ground below him.

"Hnng-" He faltered and fell back to his resting position.

"Giving up, Gang Bo?" Rong Jia taunted.

"No!" Gang Bo got back in to position and continued, trying to push himself past his limits.

"Very good" She smirked in reply before taking another sip of tea.

This has been the life of Gang Bo since he joined the sect just over a month ago, Rong Jia had thoroughly and decisively put him through the wringer in order to ascertain his current capabilities in the first through days, he thought he had entered hell; After that he got to rest while he was taught about a variety of subjects, he struggled a lot at this because he was never great at memorising things but she made sure he did.

After that she had designed a clear training regimen for him, what surprised him was that it was more body training than cultivation, when he asked she merely replied, "Your body is your strongest point, focusing on that is the best thing to do; Cultivation will follow along". Although he still wasn't sure, she probably knew what she was talking about, so he believed it.

After a month he had entered Meridian Awakening much to his surprise, it seems the methods the sect master knew worked well, he had taken a few interesting pills and bathed in weird baths, he knew he was being taken care of beyond well, so he put his full force in to whatever she threw at him.

And that comes to the current training, this is just one among many, but this especially personifies 'appearances can be deceiving'.

While Gang Bo looks like he's just doing normal press ups, on his back was a paper charm plastered to his skin with a complicated inscription on it, the effect of this paper charm was rather brutal as well; Each time he performed a push up the weight of the paper charm would increase, at first it weighed as much as paper, then a book, then a large melon and so on, currently he felt like he had a couple cows hoof-standing on his back.

And that wasn't the end of it, the worst part was that he couldn't use his Qi! He was currently holding the weight with his pure body power; sure his body has been refined by Qi however it was the past month of treatment that had begun to awaken his physical potential.

There was a punishment for using Qi as well, if the charm detects even the slightest usage of Qi it will drastically increase the weight, causing him to fall and then it will reset its weight, making him start from the beginning, he had caused this to happen twice already making him feel despair.

However because of these failures his ability to control and restrict his Qi has improved due to the amount of focus he was using to keep it compressed.

The goal of the training was to reach the maximum weight, once it is reached the charm shall burn away.

Rong Jia watched on for a minute before gazing away towards a tree in the distance, she sipped the tea and savoured the taste.

A simple mint tea, inexpensive but well made, the freshness made her feel like her mind was being cured from tiredness.

'The newcomers have certainly been busy' She thought to herself, she was thinking about the report Su Wen had given her.

The instructors had a secondary job once they finished the entrance examinations, it was to keep watch on the new disciples and see what they do for the first month, the reason this is done is to make sure no undesirable people have managed to slip into the sect, and to get a general look at each disciples attitude towards the sect and cultivation.

'2 of the males and 1 of the females has already stagnated, making little to no progress with their cultivation and wasting their points'.

She lightly shook her head, there were disciples like this in every batch; They were usually the underachievers, bottom of the barrel bunch that saw no future for themselves so they spent it on indulgence, they can still turn it around, but they rarely do, eventually they will be kicked out of the sect.

They don't want leeches here.

'That Tai Hui, he claims to be a scholar yet it's rare to see someone with such vigour for battle, he has spent most of his time in the duelling area trying out a variety of weapons like a small child sponging up information around them, lots of other disciples are calling him a maniac because of it, but he is still making good progress with his cultivation and isn't making any problems, he might be a powerful figure in the future.'

She didn't mind battle maniacs at all, rather she was rather similar to him in the past, so she enjoyed seeing a kindred spirit.

'Bai Lian… she's the second daughter of the Bai Clan's current patriarch, I hear that the first daughter was sent to the Everlasting Ocean Sect, I wonder why… is their relationship not great? Either way she's been steadily cultivating but not much else, she hasn't joined any division or interacted with other much at all, while there isn't anything wrong with that she's limiting her future… The only person she seems to interact with is Mei Ling…'

Rong Jia felt a headache coming on thinking about Mei Ling.

'Mei Ling… I sent assistance to her family so she could leave her clan under the nose of the Huo Clan, I saw potential in her…'

She felt sympathy for the girls situation, she had been in the exact same place in the past, yet she managed to escape, so she helped another, however.

She pinched her brow as a slight headache began to appear.

'That damn girl, does she not understand what position she's in? She went ahead and castrated someone from the Jin clan! It's true that normally their clan wouldn't be bothered with this, rather see it as an opportunity to get a wastrel to move his ass, but there's another factor in this, the Huo clan! They weren't happy with her leaving without permission and when a member of the Jin clan mentioned the 'event' to them they started harking on how she should be removed from the sect at once, both clans!' She sighed heavily.

'She better behave herself; I can cover for her when its something small like this but nothing more'.

She then thought about the next disciple in her report.

'Wei Yu… I'm surprised someone of the Wei family entered the sect after all these years, especially after looking up his life before he entered, why did he even come here? After only a few days he managed to waste all his points on entertainment and then lose his token, if not for a friend of his lending him points he'd be sitting at a negative balance with nothing to cultivate with; He needs to turn himself around or he'll be gone with the rest of them.'

Then there was one last person in her report, Shu He.

She had learned a decent amount about this disciple from her own disciple, Gang Bo, they were close apparently.

'Born in a small farming village, self-learned apothecary at a young age, was taught hunting and archery by his deceased father, became a cultivator by his own efforts, has experienced a large-scale battle first hand at the cost of his own parents due to an incident with a black sect cultivator and survived, even dealing an assist to the finishing blow on said cultivator'.

She thought of his brief history and found it odd, reading it out like this he seemed like a genius child, and yet her impression of him in the brief moments she met him weren't such, he seemed rather,.. normal.

Geniuses had an aura to them, they felt like they existed for the area of expertise, their aura stank of it, their every action was towards said subject and they had a borderline obsession with it.

Yet she felt nothing from him, just a simple child learning about cultivation.

And that's why she found it odd.

'That child… there's something wrong, something I can't see, something I don't know'.

'After he entered the sect he went and sampled around the entertainment district but held himself back well, he was there for the Mei Ling event but didn't get involved, he won twice with only 10 stones at Striking Luck, he then got invited to the Beast Taming Division and joined it, then went and tried to join Alchemy Tower, being turned away with a scroll and even after that he went and visited deep in the Forging Division, meeting one of the new and rising stars with a request.'

Out of all the new disciples, this one was the busiest, he seemed to be moving about filled with different objectives and ideas without focusing on one.

'It's great that he seems intent on joining the Alchemy Tower, we need more alchemists; I don't really understand why he joined the Beast Taming Division though? He doesn't have prior experience with beasts, nor has he shown affinity for them so far.'

She was trying to reason with his thought process, but what she didn't know was that he had been forcibly poached into the division by their Elder, though she would find out later.

'The 2 wins with 10 stones at Striking Luck though, it can be attributed to great luck definitely, but…'

She took a sip of her tea again, letting the mint cleanse the headaches that had begun attacking her.

She knew in her mind, that child had a secret, she didn't know what nature of secret, but her instincts told her there was one.

However she would do nothing, as long as he wasn't a threat to the sect; Rather if it's beneficial she would raise him up.

That's only if he shared It though.

Unfortunately, she didn't quite understand just how big of a secret he held.