Heavenly Turkey, Sly Beast

Every seven years the Heavenly Realm organizes a tournament known as the Storm Rankings. For a whole month, young geniuses from every corner of the realm will battle it out on the Heavenly Storm Arena to prove themselves worthy of the moniker 'genius'.

When the referee called forth the next combatants to the stage, the arena erupted with deafening cheers. Who would have thought that the next match would be between the current favorite to win the championship and a nameless cultivator who emerged as the dark horse of the tournament?

Oblivious to the raucous atmosphere, Memnoch jumped into the arena and faced his opponent, Fu Yiyun, the number one genius of Elysian Sect.

Memnoch has heard of Yiyun's name before and paid close attention to his previous fights. To say that Yiyun has skills and talent would be an understatement.

Fu Yiyun is in a class of his own. It's no wonder the crowd unanimously believed he would emerge as champion in the Storm Rankings.

But these daunting details don't matter to Memnoch. For him, participating in the Storm Rankings was another way to train. Battling strong opponents like Yiyun was a chance to improve himself. Whatever placement he acquires in the ranking doesn't matter. What Memnoch seeks is gaining experience and overcoming his limitations, to see how he would fare against those who are considered the best.

Memnoch's heart was full of anticipation. There are other strong competitors but Fu Yiyun was the person everyone wants to surpass. And now, he's given the opportunity to exchange pointers with such a high-valued opponent.

The two respectfully bowed to each other before commencing the fight. At first, both were testing the other's strength. Gradually, the fight became more and more intense.

Memnoch and Yiyun's martial prowess could be gauged as equal. Although Yiyun exhibited a wide range of high-level techniques that he acquired through years of grooming and training by the sect, Memnoch did not falter with the secret techniques that his master passed on to him. Even when Yiyun took out his high-grade spirit weapon he could not gain much advantage against Memnoch.

In order to break the deadlock, Yiyun summoned his contracted beast, Lightning Liger.

For the first time since the battle commenced Memnoch wrinkled his brows. The use of spirit weapons and spirit beasts were permitted in the Storm Rankings. So far he hasn't met an opponent that caused him to summon his contracted beast. Memnoch knew if he didn't summon his spirit beast now, he would be at a great disadvantage. Memnoch swore under his breath and reluctantly summoned Heavenly Turkey.

At the sight of the white feathered bird the arena was plunged into deafening silence. For a time, all that could be heard was the echo of the gobbling turkey. It took a while for the audience to sober up, even Yiyun could not believe that Memnoch's spirit beast would be a silly looking large bird.

"It's over." Memnoch murmured in despair as he looked up at the clear blue sky. Why did Yiyun have to summon his stupid beast? Memnoch was unreconciled.

Yiyun saw the dejection etched in Memnoch's face and arrogantly thought that the other side had given up. He unceremoniously ordered Lightning Liger to attack but what happened next would be imprinted on everyone's memories for many years to come.

The reason why Memnoch was averse to summoning Heavenly Turkey was due to its nature. Although the large bird looked silly and weak, it was extremely violent and crafty. It likes to pose as a harmless spirit beast to lull its opponents to a false sense of security.

Heavenly Turkey is a battle maniac who loves to toy with its opponents and torture them to submission. If Memnoch did not inherit the beast from his master he would never consider forming a contract with it.

In the end, he could only light incense sticks for Fu Yiyun and his Lightning Liger and pray for their safety.

The end… or is it?