Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Zi Jing switched between the battle below and the Hundun Clan's mountain. Even now the barrier protecting it stood strong and it obscured the mountain. No matter how much he tried to peer in, nothing could be seen. 

"Damn it, when is that thing going to come out?" 

He cursed under his breath, keeping close watch of it all. 

Down below, the only commanders that have yet to fight were Du Xiu and Gao Ri. And everyone's forces had yet to come out. Only Yu Zhen continued to direct the ranged attacks, shouting and swinging her saber over and over again. 

Du Xiu was at the gates. He stood there silently, fully armored with his halberd. 

He was waiting silently, waiting for the right moment. His ears were open, listening to the battle. 

it was chaotic, blades clashed as the land and the skies were ruined from the shockwaves and blasts. Even those who couldn't witness the battle with their own eyes could tell just how intense it was through the noise it produced. 

And in this battle, when could they enter? 

When would Du Xiu send them out?

Some could barely wait, gripping their weapons tightly. They could not just stand there while their commanders were out fighting by themselves. 

But then, Du Xiu raised his hand up, a signal for these ground troops to prepare themselves. 

"Nearly there", he muttered. 

Soon enough the chaotic battle soon came to its most intense moments as the shockwaves affected the depths of the lake. And at this peak moment, the two sides were at a standstill. Neither had the momentum on their side and that was the perfect time. 

"Open the gates!"

He brought his hand and shouted for the gates, which swung open. 

"CHARGE!"

His voice echoed out and they all followed with a scream, flooding out of the gates and crashing right into the demonic forces. And just like that, the battle turned in their favor as they gained momentum, pushing Shi Hou and the others back.

"Don't back down! Fight back! Fight back!"

The demons shouted to each other, pushing their bloodlines as far as they could. 

Du Xiu and everyone else that stayed back only saw the battle for a few moments but that was all they needed to see the carnage. Blood had long been spilled and bodies laid strewn about. And with the reanimated bodies that the Revenant Lord brought back, the bloodshed had become butchery. 

With his "soldiers" they would fight until they could no longer fight. Unless their bodies were cut into pieces or the last drop of blood fell, they would continue to fight. Against Di Yu, this proved to be more difficult than the Messenger thought. 

"This bastard, how is he reanimating so many soldiers? This energy is different from Soul Energy, how could I dispel it? Soul Destruction doesn't even work. I'll have to take care of that demon first."

He still levitated in the skies, shooting rays from his eyes and killing others. But fully knowing that his methods weren't going to work against the Revenant Lord, Di Yu retrieved something from his spatial ring. 

Frankly, it was a weapon that suited him quite well. With his flowing blue robes and glowing eyes, what came after was a giant cobalt scythe. It was just a tad larger than him with a blade long enough to cut a giant's neck off. 

"You, if this is all you can do then begone." 

Talking with an icy tone, Di Yu flew down, pulling his scythe back to harvest the Revenant Lord's neck. But the demon wasn't worried in the slightest, in fact, he was smiling and cackling, taking out a small sacrificial dagger. 

He raised it up just as the scythe came, blocking the strike with just that dagger. 

It was a small weapon, long enough to pierce a heart if it was pushed into the chest. it was a rather simple blade, one made out of bone. The handle was wrapped in cloth but there was a black ooze dripping from the edge. 

"Ahahaha, tell me to begone? You are not strong enough!" 

The Revenant Lord pushed Di Yu back before letting out even more of that dark and ominous energy. Like tendrils, they began to spread to more dead bodies, breathing new life into them. 

Di Yu looked around before eyeing the Revenant Lord. 

"How are you doing this?" he asked. 

The demon only laughed. 

"Do you truly expect me to say anything? This is my bloodline power! It is both my strength and my curse!"

He spat out angrily, whipping his dagger to the side. The black ooze splattered on the ground, seemingly ripping out whatever life was left around it. 

"That knife... Where is that ooze coming from?" Di Yu thought. 

Looking at it, his eyes followed the ooze, tracing the flow up the blade and through the cloth before noticing something. 

"That dagger is coming out of his wrist!"

Indeed, it was difficult to see because of the sleeves that hid the demon's arms. However, it was there and Di Yu caught a glimpse of it. A small slit on his wrist that was slightly open, revealing his tendons that connected to the end of the knife. Black ooze seemed to run through them, flowing into the dagger. 

"Is that what it is? It's his blood?" Di Yu wondered, "But even though I know about it, what can I do?" 

Looking around, the resurrected demons all rose up from the ground, some were still bleeding while others were missing limbs. But that eerie glow in their eyes was present as they looked at him. 

Spinning his scythe around, Di Yu charged forward, clashing blades with the Revenant Lord. Sparks of light flew about as they fought fiercely, moving from one place to another. 

"Was that it, human? Was that all you had to share? Weren't you going to kill me?" 

The Revenant Lord taunted with a crazed smile. Unlike his cold and quiet demeanor from before, his current expression was that of joy and excitement. No matter how quick Di Yu was, none of his strikes were connecting. 

"I can't even use Soul Destruction on him, his soul is much stronger than those other demons. But perhaps, I could do this." 

He then jumped back and grabbed one of the resurrected demons. 

"Soul Taker."

Placing a hand on the demon's chest, some of his azure energy was forcefully injected into the demon, battling with the Revenant Lord's energy. And he did the same to all of the other ones, trying to force his own control onto them. 

"Are you trying to control them? Hah! Do you honestly think that you can do it? This is a heaven-sent power given to my clan! In exchange for their sacrifice, the last remaining member will be bestowed with it!"

The Revenant Lord looked at Di Yu, watching him while fully knowing that something like this won't work. But the messenger continued to do it, giving all of them a piece of his own energy. And once he was done, he turned his attention back to the Revenant Lord. 

"I know that trying to take over those bodies wouldn't have worked but that wasn't what I was going for."

He spoke very bluntly about it before glancing at the bodies. Their eyes were flickering as the two energies fought with each other but this man was much more skillful than that. 

The Revenant Lord didn't notice it but small specks of Di Yu's energy slipped through and into the tendrils of energy. And it flowed right back to him, slowly entering the demon's body. Soon enough, his face dropped, that crazed excitement was gone as he realized that something was wrong. 

"You! What did you do?" 

He pointed at Di Yu with shock and anger to which the man merely looked at him. 

 Bringing the scythe to his side., he answered the demon.

"If I can't destroy your soul in one go, I might as well gnaw at it slowly."