Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

The faces of the disciples darkened as they pulled out their weapons. Today might be their last day to live, but as long as they could deliver that Starlight Flower to the sect, they would have completed their mission.

"Hahaha", the man continued, "You disciples of the Violet Sun Sect are so unlucky. You're part of such a trash sect, only good at pill-making. It is a shame but your struggling will only delay the inevitable."

The handsome disciple turned to his junior sister, "Hua Xiong, on my mark, run away as fast as you can. Me and the others will try to stall for you. As long as you can bring it back to the Violet Sun Sect, our deaths will not be in vain."

She was extremely scared but nodded, understanding his instructions. Of them all, she had the lowest cultivation and did not have many combat skills. Furthermore, all of this trouble was because of her.

This flower was needed for a pill that would purify her body, for she had the light element in her. Earlier, when they attempted the tower of Yan Hui Zhu, she went up the farthest, almost reaching the top. As long as they could purify the element of light and strengthen it, the chances that she could obtain his inheritance was high.

The Violet Sun Sect was a small power in a neighboring city. It was known for its pill-making, considered to be one of the best within the city. Almost all of their disciples were of the fire or earth element, a necessary requirement for pill-making. However, their lesser known division was healing and combat, a sector that Hua Xiong was a part of due to her affinity of the light element. This disparity in the Violet Sun Sect caused them to diminish in power causing them to be overshadowed by other schools and sects.

Hua Xiong became their hope, her ability in healing was top notch and gave their sect a good reputation. But other schools have been pressuring them to give her up to them under the guise that she would have better teachers. In reality, they would take advantage of her healing ability, using her without regards for her well being.

If she was able to obtain Yan Hui Zhu's inheritance, the powers suppressing her sect would think twice before acting. Without a doubt these men were hired by those same powers to stop her.

She hesitated, unwilling to leave them but she could do nothing but run.

"Agh-",she heard the cry of a man before it was cut short.

She turned to see a bunch of headless corpses, still standing as if their head never came off. Everyone of them looked in shock and fear. Her senior brother barely saw a thing, a flash of light flickered for a second before the heads of those robbers fell. He did not known what had happened but knew that this was their opportunity to escape.

"Let's retreat now!" he shouted leading his group away.

The White Star Dragon roared in anger, unhappy that it was unable to protect its treasure and it couldn't even kill the humans that disturbed it. However, it did not dwell on it for too long and began wandering into the wilderness, looking for another to replace the Starlight Flower.

None of them knew what had happened, perhaps an expert had secretly helped them. But that did not matter much, they managed to live through the ordeal.

Ming Yue saw them off before turning away and leaving. It would not sit well with her if she had left them alone. She quickly dispatched those men with ease, due to their own carelessness, none of them even noticed her. She did not reveal herself to them, choosing to move stealthily as she did not want to draw attention to herself. She wanted to move about by herself without distractions.

Days slowly went by as she traveled all throughout the Firelight Ruins. Nothing drastic had happened during this period, she would spend her time collecting little treasures and fighting off beasts.

A month had passed since then and she felt that there was nothing more to see here. There was still plenty of time before the Youth Dragon Tournament. She did feel close to breaking through to the 5th level. Ming Yue decided that it was time to break through and looked to find a quiet place for her to do so. She chose to stop at a small clearing, secluded and peaceful.

She chose a spot and sat down, closing her eyes and began to circle her energy. To breakthrough each level of the human realm required cultivators to temper their body using their inner force. To reach the threshold required cleansing the body of impurities and constant refinement of their inner force. As they progress to a higher level, their body would achieve new levels of toughness and power. By doing so, they are preparing for the Earth Realm in which they are to train their mind and soul. However, to do so, they must suffer extreme pain and their bodies must be able to endure it without breaking in the middle of each breakthrough.

To break through to the fifth level, Ming Yue had to cycle her inner force through her body 55 times. Doing so will allow her body to break and reform into a stronger vessel. This process could take hours to complete but she had plenty of time spare.

As she quietly broke through, the Firelight Ruins was in a uproar. The reason being that someone had taken Yan Hui Zhu's inheritance! However, what happened after had caused this development to explode, as it turned out, the one who obtains his inheritance gained control over the Firelight Ruins. No one knew what had happened but before they knew it, the tower of Yan Hui Zhu shined, shooting a beam of light into the sky. Suddenly, everyone was sent out of the city ruins, watching the beam of light form a barrier, covering the ruins. Everyone was confused and did not catch a glimpse of whoever had done it.

They could only wait for the inheritor to appear.

Inside that tower was only one person. If Ming Yue was there, she would recognize her, for it was Hua Xiong!

Ming Yue's aid had allowed her return to her sect and refine a pill from the Starlight Flower. She quickly ingested it and began absorbing and refining it. Her power and control over the light element had almost doubled after several days of refinement. Her climb to the top of the tower was difficult beyond reason. As she went higher and higher, as oppressive force weighed her down and an even more incredible force pushed down her very soul. It took her several hours to reach the last two levels and almost took a day for her to reach the final floor. After reaching it, she discovered a necklace, floating in the middle of the room. It was a simple string necklace with a small circular pendant, embedded with a white stone. Up close, the "simple string" was made of an unknown metal, braided into a intricate pattern. The pendant itself was embedded with white jade, shaped like a tear.

There was nothing but this necklace and Hua Xiong reached out and grabbed it. The moment she touched the necklace, it shines brightly and wrapped itself around her neck. Her consciousness disappeared from her body and she fell to the ground. Perhaps this was another trial or an ancient method for bestowing the inheritance. No one would know.

Around this time, Ming Yue was close to breaking through only needing to cycle her inner force three more times. As she finished up, her body had visible cracks, with blood pouring out. It was a painful sight to see. Even her clothes had been dyed red. Once she completed her final cycle, blood stopped running from her body and almost immediately, her body began to reabsorb the blood. Internally, her heart pumped incessantly and a rush of energy came about. Her eyes opened and she spit out the impurities of her body. Black sludge that disappeared into the earth. She felt much stronger than before and was eager to test out her strength.

She felt the presence of a beast closing in on her. Lightning crackled through her fingers as a blade of wind formed in her hand. She sent it straight to the incoming creature. A sharp wind covered in lightning flew faster than the eye could see but it only hit empty space.

The beast had actually dodged the strike. Ming Yue saw this and unsheathed her sword.. This was a great chance to consolidate her cultivation.