Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

3All of her focus was on freeing Elder Shen from the Ascetic. She just wanted the man to let go of the Elder.     2

And when she cried out for his Heavenly Domain to break, the Black Blade answered her plea.      

It glowed with an intense void-like energy and the sword itself shrieked as she swung down. The Ascetic's face changed, clearly sensing the danger of that attack. Almost reflexively, he let go of the Elder, avoiding the strike.     

The space where that sword had cut suddenly split open, revealing a large gash that contained nothing. It was utter emptiness but the gash slowly repaired itself, sealing itself back into place.     

"Elder!"     

Ming Yue moved swiftly, catching him before he fell to the ground.      

"Ack, haah, haah, haah, Ming Yue... why did you come back?! Did you... did you succeed?"      

The Elder touched his throat as he coughed for her, looking at the young woman with shock and worry. On the other hand, she only cared for his well-being as well as the others.      

Fortunately, the Ascetic lost his focus, releasing his grasp on everyone. The ship that had been freed quickly descended as the rest of the crew ran out. They had their weapons drawn, running beside Ming Yue and facing the Ascetic.      

Among them, Zhu Xie ran towards Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei, picking them up in each arm.      

"Are you two alright?" he asked.      

Both the dragon and the lion mumbled something but neither could lift a finger.      

"Zhu Xie, take them back into the ship. They're both alive but the rebound from reverting to the fifth stage on top of their injuries could be dangerous!"      

Lao Yang quickly barked out orders before turning to Ming Yue. She was still focused on Elder Shen, making sure that he was fine.      

"I'm going to get Hongyu. Bring her back to the ship, and escape! Head to the Reticent Fortress."     

He nodded and stood upright with her help.      

"Yes, of course! I'll make sure of it."     

Hongyu was already injured under his watch and the Elder felt as if he could not let such a thing happen again.      

Ming Yue nodded before going to Hongyu's side. The little girl was on the ground motionless but her hand was still wrapped tightly around her sword. That much was enough for the young cultivator to know that the girl was still alive.      

She was gentle, sliding her hands underneath Hongyu's body before lifting her up.      

Turning around, she came face to face with the Ascetic whose gaze was split between her and Hongyu.      

"You won't be leaving with, especially her", he said.      

He turned slightly, pointing at his injury.      

"That girl managed to bypass my Heavenly Domain and stabbed me. Whatever she may be, her body could hold the answer to the path to the Immortal Realm."     

The woman looked at him before disappearing, moving past him and reappearing beside Elder Shen. Leaving Hongyu in his arms, she turned to face the Ascetic.      

"She will leave and you will do nothing about it."     

Pale Moon had long since been activated, her body was outlined by an electric blue aura and her eyes sparked like lightning. Brandishing both swords, she faced him with an indomitable look, standing up to him.      

The Ascetic furrowed his brow, staring back at her.      

"You... you have yet to reach the Heaven Realm, how do you plan on stopping me?" he questioned.      

But she didn't answer him, she merely raised the Black Blade up, pointing it at the man. The very same sword that he had backed away from.      

"In that case..."     

His focus changed to the others, all of whom were busy retreating into the ship. However, Ming Yue had long noticed it, she moved the moment he lifted his hand.      

Her body spun forward as she leaped at him. Both swords moved at such speed that they resembled a black and red wheel of death!     

She brought the swords together, aiming for the same point, his wrist.      

Unlike before, the Black Blade did not produce that same strike as before but it was a terrifying attack nonetheless. And the two swords came upon the Ascetic's hand but it was stopped by the same force from before, his Heavenly Domain.      

They suddenly stopped an inch away from his skin unable to move further. On top of that, she couldn't stop him from lifting his hand, only slowing it down.      

"Do you think you can overcome my Heavenly Domain?"     

He looked into her eyes as he spoke, lifting his hand up towards the ship.     

"The Mountain of Clouds, that is the name of my Heavenly Domain. Immovable like a mountain, untouchable like the clouds. I exist and yet, I am easily overlooked. After all, how many mountains have you climbed? How many clouds have you seen? Do you remember any of it?"      

Ming Yue pushed her swords down with even more power, bringing his hand to a halt as it barely reached the ship.      

"I don't but mountains will crumble and clouds will fade. In the end, even a little girl was able to hurt you."     

Gritting her teeth, she brought out as much strength as possible, burning through her vast stores of energy.      

Bringing him to a standstill, she pushed herself even further but the Ascetic still had another hand. He raised his other hand, grabbing ahold of it with an invisible force.      

Ming Yue acted quickly, keeping the Black Blade on one arm while using Blood Moon to stop his other arm from moving any closer.     

"I can just crush that ship. What will you do then?"      

His other hand slowly began to close, curling into a fist. And the ship creaked with the hull slowly caving into itself.      

"No, you don't!"     

The next moment, Elder Xiang and Elder Hua appeared!     

The former brandished his blade while the latter revealed a longstaff with a macehead. They attack together, each one striking an arm.      

Both Elders were at the Fifth Sky, just a step away from the Heaven Realm like Ming Yue. And with the three of them together, the Ascetic's attempts were stopped for a moment.      

He backed off as the Sword Elder and Medicinal Elder went to Ming Yue's side. They looked at her before looking at the ship above them. It was in a sad state but it was still flying.      

"Elder Shen and the others are in there, we just have to buy enough time for them to escape", Ming Yue informed.      

Elder Xiang faced the Ascetic, pointing his sword at him.      

"Mm, alright, the Heaven's Skyguard should be coming soon but they'll need time to make a few preparations", he explained.      

Elder Hua nodded in agreement.      

"It'll just be us three for a little bit but it should be enough to buy time."     

Despite this good news, Ming Yue seemed to object.      

"No, we aren't going to just buy time. We're going to put an end to this now", she said.      

The Medicinal Elder looked surprised and then worried.      

"What? Are you really thinking about doing that? Even with all the help that we have, it is barely enough to take the Ascetic on! it's like fighting against the Grand Elder, only he's trying to kill us!"      

Despite her words, Elder Xiang merely laughed and grinned.      

"Ahahahahah! Interesting, since you seem so determined, I don't mind aiming for that! The only Heaven Realm expert I've fought against was the Grand Elder but it was all duels and training! I've always wanted a real fight!"     

He didn't even bother to wait. Despite losing a limb, his spirit was far from breaking.      

Running forward, he headed straight into battle, swinging his blade with grace and fierceness. Elder Hua watched him charge forward and sighed before joining him.      

And the last to join was Ming Yue.      

Standing away from the fight, she looked up at the ship, watching it slowly fly away. And then she closed her eyes to focus.