Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Blood Moon, that sounds good."

As they both agreed, Blood Moon resonated as both Ming Yue and Xue Yue felt their consciousness connecting. It was strange and surreal. 

Their minds were still intact but they could feel each other's emotions. 

Yin Bing just watched from the side, examining what was happening before the serpent. 

"How interesting..." she muttered. 

The resonating sword continued to make itself known and the entire lake trembled under its melodious ring. It had grown to a point where the Commanders took notice, Zi Jing, especially. 

"It's coming, isn't it? A weapon spirit? A cursed blade?" he muttered. 

His heart began to race with excitement. But that anticipation had gotten the best of him as his attacks slowed for just a second. And it was enough for the True Idol to take advantage of it. 

It lashed at him, swinging a fist out and releasing a lightning blast at the man. 

"Protect!"

Zi Jing shouted out as he called his swords back, forming a shield and deflecting the strike. But the swords did not come out unscathed, cracked, and melted after taking that strike head-on.

The True Idol, in its crazed state, flew towards Zi Jing with its hand open facing towards the commander. Lightning shot out, striking the swords and biting away at the blades. 

"Damn it, I'm really going to have to do this."

Gritting his teeth, Zi Jing flicked his hand out and retreated, forcing the five swords to fly apart before thrusting themselves into True Idol's body, entering through the wounds that were already there. 

"Death Seal!"

As they pierced deeply into the True Idol, the swords began to glow with a bright white light before suddenly sinking deeper. It grabbed at the swords but they were just made of pure energy now. Then it screamed in pain, feeling it infiltrate its veins and destroying them as it flowed through his body. 

Zi Jing watched while breathing heavily, lowering his hands and descending to the ground. 

"I hope I didn't sacrifice those swords in vain."

He muttered to himself, tired and out of energy after using that technique. 

And while he hoped for it, the inevitable came and the True Idol roared out. 

"RAARGHH!" 

It curled up before stretching out, breaking the sword's energy and releasing a shockwave of lightning. The other experts all defended themselves against the outburst, looking at it with slight desperation. Everyone was beginning to tire. 

"When is this thing going to drop?!" Nie Xia shouted with a heavy breath. 

From constantly sending out their strongest techniques to enduring the True Idol's powerful attacks, their defenses were wearing thin and their strength was beginning to wane. Even then, they continued to fight it, even as lightning rained all around them. 

But none of that could reach Ming Yue within the lake, she was too focused on Blood Moon as both her and the sword connected with one another. The power coming off of them was incredible as the blade seemed to reinvigorate her. 

And then, without another moment, her eyes awakened, looking down at her injured hand where a sheathed Blood Moon rested. 

"It feels so different..."

Xue Yue muttered quietly, it was full of awe and shock as her consciousness was now in the sword. 

"I can feel the wind, your hand... I'm not just looking from within you, I'm actually here, free..." 

Although her face could not be seen, you could almost see the smile on her face because the joy in her voice was clear. 

Ming Yue suddenly smiled and looked at the lake, bowing in gratitude to the Cerulean Serpent before heading off. She went was going straight to the battle, seeing the wild lightning from a distance away. Even then, she wasn't deterred by it. 

"You know, your arm is barely usable as it is. Do you think we can still fight that thing with you in this state?" 

Xue Yue's voice echoed in her head as Ming Yue began to pick up speed. 

"We don't have a choice, besides, it's not even the arm I use to swing Blood Moon."

She answered back, holding the sword with her right hand. 

Her armor slowly repaired itself but it was still quite broken, her festering arm was still exposed, healing but covered in burns. 

Despite that, despite the state she was in, Ming Yue felt confident. With her sword back, she felt as if she could contend with the True Idol, deal some real damage to that thing. Her energy began to circulate, rushing through the meridians and the veins of her body. Her aura began to grow, releasing wisps of a ghostly blue light. 

It then flowed into Blood Moon, causing it to howl out. 

"Here we go!" Xue Yue's voice shouted out in joy

"Pale Moon."

Her aura exploded as her speed burst out! 

In just a few breaths, she reached the True Idol just as it swung out, releasing another wave of chaotic lightning. The other seventeen experts had all backed off to avoid the attack. In the time she was gone, they had all taken on a beating. 

In fact, it was no longer seventeen but just seven now. 

Many of the messengers had either died or were incapacitated, there were only four left and one of them was Di Yu. Even he looked quite haggard. His robes were torn in many places and his arms were covered in cuts and burns. But his eyes hadn't lost their power just yet. Azure light came out of his body, striking at the True Idol. 

On the other side, It was only Du Xiu, Nie Xia, and Camp Commander Bi that still continued to fight. Unlike those three, Yu Zhen did not have the same endurance as them. Certainly, her power was great but against the True Idol, there was only so much she could handle. 

Even then, the three that remained were not in much better shape. Even Du Xiu's armor had been damaged to a point where repairing itself had slowed. Commander Bi's battle standard still glowed but it had dimmed in comparison to before. And Nie Xia was in the worst shape, his shields were all but scrap metal now, having taken on the True Idol's attacks directly. 

Even with that, none of them were willing to give up just yet!

But none of them had seen or even noticed Ming Yue arrive. Her body just appeared out of thin air, clad in that aura of hers. Bloodmoon was quickly unsheathed, showing a faint red glint on the blade's edge. 

"Waning Moon."

Both Ming Yue and Xue Yue spoke out as they executed the technique. A casual downward slash that seemed so otherworldly. It was both normal and different from any attack.

As the blade fell upon the True Idol's swinging arm, Blood Moon cut through its flesh. In fact, it cut off the entire arm. And when the attack was complete, the sword left behind the mirage of a red crescent moon. 

It was too quick for anyone to even react as it had happened so quickly and so suddenly. 

The arm was just lopped off and fell down, burning up as the energy within it exploded. That was enough for everyone to suddenly stop. Even the True Idol who looked at the wound she left behind. 

"What- what just happened?" 

This was on everyone's mind as all that they truly saw was the red crescent. But when the dust cleared, they saw Ming Yue facing the True Idol directly. She was right in front of it, squaring off with this monster of a being. 

Brandishing her sword with her uninjured arm, she looked at it without an ounce of fear. 

"Come on, you're nothing but a fake god to me", the young cultivator said.