Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Are you really so confident about that? You know who we are and yet you are confident? One swing from my sleeves and you'll all be on the ground frothing at the mouth!" said the masked woman.      

The others also jeered at the scouts as the woman wielding the axe stepped up.      

"Not only are you outnumbered but there is only one Sky Realm Expert amongst you while there are three of us. Just surrender now and your death will be painless. Better yet, tell us what you've found and we might let you go. After all, we're only here to investigate", she said to them.      

The other members of the Azure Wind Kingdom shared quick glances before looking to their leader for a decision.      

"Don't even think about it, remember who we're up against! They're nothing but lies!"      

But the Three Bloody Stars shook their heads, looking past him and to his men.      

"Are you really going to follow him to the end? Why go down this path where death is inevitable when there is a chance to live by doing as we say?" one of them said.      

There was fear in the eyes of the scouts and the hesitation was beginning to grow as well. Would they really be let go? Looking back at them, their leader clenched his jaws and grit his teeth.      

"Do not surrender, do not fall for their lies! Fear clouds your judgment and the hope they give is false! Take your stances! Death before dishonor!"      

Tightly gripping his sword, he ran forward, directly facing the trio.      

"Damn it, three against one. It's one thing that we're all at the Sky Realm but I'm only at the First Sky and all three of them are at the Second Sky."      

As the battle began, Ming Yue watched from a distance, pondering on whether to help or not.     

"He's going to lose, let alone the numbers, the difference in cultivation is immense. Those three are already at the Second Sky."     

The Sky Realm had five levels, aptly named the "Five Skies", the reason being that each level would allow one's lifespan to grow. Aside from that was the power increase but reaching the next level required one thing only, energy. That was the second reason for its name, the amount of energy needed is incredibly vast. And the higher one went, the more energy was needed.      

The Human Realm was about tempering, the Earth Realm is about understanding, and the Sky Realm is about enduring.      

It could take days, months, or years to obtain enough power to break through. Could someone persist for that long?     

Thus the gap between the first and second is like that of the Human Realm to the Earth Realm.     

"Even if they're at the Second Sky, killing them shouldn't be too hard but first, we have to get rid of their underlings."      

Thinking this, the young cultivator slinked back into the shadows, vanishing from her spot. And Xiao Yin was high above, circling around with a watchful gaze.      

Back in the fight, the leader of the scouts fought fiercely against the Three Blood Stars. He could not spare a glance at his own men, trying his best to fend off three Sky Realm Experts. There was no point in making sure that someone survived. And with no way out, the only path was the kill.      

"See if you can take this!"      

He shouted out before throwing several knives at them. At the same time, his figure suddenly vanished, arising from their shadows as he thrusted his sword towards their backs. Unfortunately, it didn't work.      

The spearman was swift, knocking down all of the knives while the other two turned to deal with him. His sword clashed against the axe and the older woman sneered at him.      

"Was that it?" she asked.      

He jumped back, flying into the air and placing both hands behind his back.      

"Of course not! Swords of the Abyssal Veil!"      

As both hands whipped out, over a dozen black swords shot out and flew straight towards the Three Bloody Stars. All of their faces changed for a moment, choosing to take this attack a bit more seriously.      

But as the swords rained down on them, a second wave came stabbing the ground around the trio.      

"Seal!"      

He shouted after making several hand motions to which the second wave of black swords hummed. In a matter of seconds, a black aura expanded and connected the swords together, trapping the three cultivators inside a black dome.      

There was a victorious grin on the leader's face as he landed on the ground in front of it. Still maintaining the formation, he focused on it and ignored everything else.      

It took just a few seconds but then the expression on his face suddenly changed as his hands moved.      

"Burst!"     

In an instant, the black dome exploded into thousands of shards with enough power to cause a shockwave.      

"Hah, hah, hah."     

His hands dropped to the side as he fell to one knee, breathing heavily from that last attack.      

"Even if I can't kill all of you, I don't believe that my strongest move can't kill at least one", he muttered to himself.      

As he looked up, his face showed only exhaustion and defeat as a gravelly voice responded.      

"Unfortunately, your so-called 'strongest move' didn't kill a thing, though I must admit, that was an impressive attack."      

As the energy of the black dome and the swords dissipated, only the Three Bloody Stars remained. Their bodies were somewhat beat up but there was nothing lethal about their injuries. And their opponent just breathed heavily looking down at the ground. He was still on one knee but forced himself to stand.      

"Urgh, I suppose it didn't, just kill me already", he said to them.     

The spearman laughed loudly, pointing his weapon at the scout leader.      

"Oh, we will! I'm sure your men have already met their end by now, considering how quiet it is, those weaklings died so quickly!"     

At this moment, they looked around only to notice that something was wrong.      

The older woman narrowed her eyes as she looked.      

"This... all of our men were killed but the rats... they've all been knocked out!" she noticed.      

The others noticed as well and the woman wielding the axe had a confused expression on her face.     

"But that's... how is tha-"     

She couldn't finish her words as a sword howled under the night sky, echoing throughout the area. One moment, she was alive and well but the next moment, she was frozen. And then, she fell down to the ground with her head rolling off.      

No one could see what had happened. They were all focused on their surroundings to notice that there was someone else.      

"Quick! There's an expert here!"     

The older woman dropped her staff and pointed her hands outward, ready to use her poison. And the spearman merely pointed his spear outward, waving it from one side to the other. The spearhead was blazing with fire, lighting up their surroundings.      

And then a figure emerged from the shadows of the trees, walking straight towards them.      

"There!"     

The woman shouted, waving her sleeves as something sprayed out. There was a sizzling sound as it began to melt the ground it touched but the figure suddenly vanished.      

"Agh!"     

The spearman cried out as the fire in his spear was put out and he fell, his head rolled off just like the other. Now there was only one remaining, the last of the Three Bloody Stars.      

"Who are you?! Show yourself! I will turn this entire valley into a zone of death if you don't come out! My poison will make this land uninhabitable! Now come out!" she shouted.