Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Tie Ja's voice then shouted out to his men. 

"What are you doing?! Deal with her!"

They jumped into action, following his orders and moved to attack Ling Xue. Various demons charged at her with their weapons drawn. 

Ling Xue stepped back and pulled out her flute to attack. 

"Protect her!"

The Yao Clan moved in to defend their princess and a battle erupted in front of the mountain. Mayhem ensued as weapons struck against each other, Tie Ja's men pushed forward, trying to grab at Ling Xue as the Yao Clansmen pushed back. 

"Let's go, we should look after the Princess."

"But Tie Ja, what if he is killed? What will Kong Zhi do?"

"Pah, who cares about them? Do you think they can do anything to us? The Mu Clan? We are going, that is it."

The Mu Clan watched and then retreated, not wanting to enter the fray. Depending on the outcome, it would only be beneficial to them. Either Tie Ja succeeds or he and his men and the Yao Clan end up weakened by this. It would only serve to increase their chances of getting control over the secret realm. Even if they could not get the third key, getting the Yao Clan's key was just as good. 

Thus they left and no one could stop them, after all the Yao Clan were busy fighting. They did not have the strength to stop the Mu. 

Tie Ja's squad of men were all elites within their own right, powerful warriors that could match against the Yao Clan. However, neither side had activated their bloodlines yet. 

"Feng Qian, Shou Lang, help me fight this demon!"

The Fourth Senior Brother continued to trade blows with Tie Ja and suddenly called out his juniors, asking them for aid. 

Tie Ja's smile suddenly turned to a look of scorn. 

"What is this? Are you feeling weak already? Was that previous strike all for show?" he taunted. 

The Fourth Senior Brother showed no change to his expression but one thing was for sure, he was calm. He replied to Tie Ja's taunt with a few simple words. 

"This is boring me, when are you going to activate your bloodline? If this is it, I might as well finish you off with my juniors, end it quicker", he said. 

Tie Ja's face twitched in anger.

"Is that so? Let's see just how powerful your juniors are."

Junior Sister Feng quickly ran forward and began to twirl around Tie Ja, her sleeves flew in the wind as her arms swung about gracefully. It was like she was dancing, enticing his eyes with her body. But within her sleeves was a glint of red light as they revealed her hands armed with whip-like claws.

With each twirl, they lashed out at him, marking his body with scratches before small lacerations began to appear. 

And Junior Brother Shou whistled, calling forth his wolves who ran towards Tie Ja and leapt with their jaws wide open. With one on each side, their fangs glowed with a black light, giving off a ethereal glow and each wolf bit down on his legs. 

In an instant, the pressure on the Ironclad King had more than tripled. With the Senior Brother in front of him, he could not deal with the other two's attacks and slowly his body began to fill with wounds that continued to grow. 

"That's enough. If you want to save that woman, then you will all die trying!" 

Tie Ja yelled out as he activated his bloodline which served as a signal to his men, who all activated their bloodlines. 

Everyone from the Yao Clan did the same, their auras burst out, turning crimson and flowing wildly. Their strength grew several times over as their form changed as well, growing more muscular. Their hair turned into the same shade as their aura and black tendrils covered their bodies like tattoos. 

Together, the strength they put forth was overwhelming and Tie Ja's side could not match their power. Still, they were not lacking in it either and the fight elevated to a new level of chaos. 

The king himself, transformed, his iron-like flesh turned a grayish color that carried a shine to it like real iron. In fact, it seemed like his whole body became iron but it was much stronger than that. His fists that once gave the Fourth Senior Brother bruises began put dents into his body. It seemed like each strike could make him keel over and fall. 

"Ahahaha! What can you do now? Your juniors can't even scratch me and you? You seem barely hold on the second I attacked. Do you regret it?"

He laughed out loud and lashed out at the two juniors. Ignoring the Fourth Senior Brother, he grabbed the two Black Fanged Wolves, wrenching them from his legs. He did it with such strength that their fangs were ripped off, still stuck to his flesh. 

Tie Ja then threw them down and smashed their skulls in with his foot, not even letting them utter a sound before dying. 

"Nooo!!"

Junior Brother Shou cried out but could do nothing, as a tamer, he was not a good fighter and knew that entering would spell death. He could only retreat after the loss of his pets. 

But Tie Ja wasn't done yet. He moved incredibly fast, catching the Junior Sister's claws and pulled them in along with her. 

"Hmph, you're not even that pretty."

He spat out before caving her face in with his other fist, sending her flying. He did not even watch her and looked back at the Senior Brother, showing a vicious grin. 

"Is this boring to you?" he asked in a playful way. 

His opponent, the Senior Brother, merely looked at him and glanced at his gauntlets which was now covered in dents from the constant striking. 

"Not anymore", he replied, proceeding to take off his metal gauntlets and replaced them a different pair of gauntlets. 

Tie Ja waited, interested in what tricks this man had in front of him.

This pair was much more sleeker with a black steel color and the knuckles were reinforced with thicker armor. Furthermore, as he put them on, they tightened around his arms and shoulders, wrapping in a cloth like material. 

He looked at Tie Ja and dashed forward with his palm open wide. 

"One Strike, Palm." 

One step away, he planted his feet and threw his palm forward, sending Tie Ja flying into the mountain face. Then, he chased after and the fight truly began. 

And in all of this chaos, where was Ming Yue? 

She was hidden away but she participated in the fight, deflecting any strikes that would kill or harm the Yao Clan. With the use of Whistle Wind, no one noticed it except for the sound of a whistle but those that heard it only attributed it to Ling Xue's flute. 

As for why she did not reveal herself, Ming Yue found that this was an opportunity to interrogate one of the Tao Feng. Of all three choices, there was only one she could look to, Junior Brother Shou, who escaped the fight but did not go far as he could not abandon his fellow seniors. He looked back and watched but there was grief on his face. He had lost his two pets to Tie Ja, watching them perish in such a gruesome way. 

She surveyed the fight and found that the Yao Clan were at an advantage. They no longer needed her help and the young cultivator left the fight. 

"Xiao Ya, Xiao Ding..."

Junior Brother Shou mourned the deaths of his Black Fang Wolves. They had been with him since their birth. He had taken care of the two wolves for years and now they perished. He could do nothing but grieve. 

Unfortunately, there was no time for him to do so. 

"Tell me what you and the other disciples plan to do, now that your sect leader is here. Where are their locations?"

The next moment, he felt a knife pressing into his back.