Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"So you've not only found most of the ingredients of the Thunderous Fairy Pill but even gained the bones and flesh of a Primal Frost Deer. Oh my! Even meeting a Qilin as well! You've certainly had quite a bit of luck on your side."

Elder Hua looked surprise by what she heard. Ming Yue's luck was truly hard ot come by.

"About that, I've decided to put the Thunderous Fairy Pill to the side. I've been thinking for a while and wanted to see if perhaps there was another pill."

MIng Yue informed the elder of her thoughts. After giving away the Flicker Starfruit, she began to re-evaluate the importance of the pill. Travelling back gave her plenty of time to think and so she did, beleiving that she did not have to cling to the Thunderous Fairy Pill. She wanted to stay flexible and free, understanding that there were other options. Perhaps, she did not need to use the Immortal Siren Flower. If it comes down to it, she could just exchange it all at the Contribution Hall.

"That is alright, who knows, we may find the absolute perfect pill for you. As for the Flicker Starfruit, I can see that your owl has benefited a lot from ingesting it. I'll be checking the archives for a bit, perhaps there is a pill that you may like. Once the Heavenly Gate Tournament ends, we can work on it together."

"Yes elder, I will be taking my leave."

Ming Yue bowed and left, heading for the Sword Hall to meet with Elder Xiang. This was the meeting she anticipated the most. The statue and those engraved words left a deep imprint within her and she wanted to know about them. The other two elders had no knowledge of this but if it was the Blade Elder, then there was a chance.

She quickened her pace followed by her two companions who could sense the impatience and excitement within her.

Upon reaching the Sword Hall, she saw Elder Xiang standing to one side. A number of weapons floated in front of him as he faced off against someone else. His opponent a young girl, who Ming Yue had seen before. It took her a moment to remember and she realized that this was the same person she saw in the training fields. Her black and emerald robes were hard to forget.

If she remembered correctly, this girl was an Inheritor of the Sword Hall.

Watching up close, Ming Yue found that while this girl was younger than her in appearance. Her eyes and aura took on a feeling of maturity. Her hair was at shoulder length. Her facial-features were soft, sporting rather large eyes and brilliant green pupils.

In her hands was a rather unique sword, Ming Yue did not realize it until now but it was this was the first time she had seen a weapon like this. It was somewhat short, merely two feet in length but it was six inches in width. The edge of the blade ran straight before turning up at an angle. It was like a long cleaver combined with a single edged blade.*

Wielding it with two hands, she swung in a tyrannical way, cutting horizontally on all of Elder Xiang's floating weapons. As she did so, energy welled inside as stone and earth formed around the blade, increasing its size.

Bringing two weapons together, a sword and a spear, Elder Xang blocked the strike and retaliated, sending a saber aimed at her stomach.

The earthen layer split apart, allowing the girl to pull her sword away and parry the saber. Taking it as an opportunity, she stepped forward, attacking the elder with her sword.

Ming Yue watched and felt the soul energy coursing though the girls body and saw it clash against a pair of daggers. The tyrannical aura seemed to explode as the girl revealed her sharpness. It was like a giant cleaver stood behind her ready to hack down whatever was in front of her.

Elder Xiang smiled as the two daggers could not block this attack. However, he was not goig to give in as he revealed his own aura, one filled with nothing but a suffocating sharpness. It was as if there was a sword pressed against your neck, ready to pierce.

The elder grabbed the floating sword, imbueing it with that energy before striking. The two auras clashed just as the two blades met.

While the inheritor pushed as much as she could, Elder Xiang showed nothing but a little smile. Perhaps, it was smile of approval. Finding that she could not push back the elder, the inheritor stepped back and recalled her aura as did the elder.

"Are you finished yet?" he asked her but she did not answer.

Instead, she restrained her self and let no energy leak out. She took a deep breath and then switched her stance. The sword in one hand while the other was in front of her, she lowered her body and bent her knees. The blade pointed behind her like it was sheathed.

As she exhaled, she stepped forward and attacked, a diagonal strike. It was a simple and ordinary strike but Ming Yue felt that there was so much more than that. If she were to block that strike, she would lose for sure.

A simple strike that carried a sea of complexity, as within that attack was natural movement yet a well thought-out plan.

The elder blocked the first strike only for the inheritor to step around and attack once more. It was one attack after the other and soon a tempo was set and the inheritor looked like she was dancing.

Each strike was simple but each one only became harder and harder to deal with.

"Is this the next stage of the Sword Sage Path? Return to Simplicity?" Ming Yue thought.

She couldn't help but watch the inheritor's movements, trying to learn from it. However she was too far away to reach that stage and found that there was little she could figure out about these movements. For someone who was proud of her speed, that was not enough to deal with an attack such as this.

"Return to Simplicity, it cannot just be using simple strikes. Is it to simplify your attacks? What does it mean to return? From those movements, each attack seems basic and yet they are too mysterious. Is it to appear simple in appearance? No, that doesn't seem right."

Mign Yue began to think and try to understand what Return to Simplicity was. The manual she was given did not give much instruction. Rather it seemed that the later stages did not carry much information as they depended on one's interpretation. From what she read, reaching this stage depended on how one viewed simplicity.

Lost in thought, she did not realize that the battle had ended with the elder having his sword pressed against her neck.

"Hmm not bad, Yu Hua, your progress wiht Return to Simplicity is good enough to reach the top ten among your peers."

The elder began to correct of few of the flaws with her attack and sent her away. Looking at the entrance way, the both of them saw Ming Yue sitting there and watching. Hei Yue and Xiao Yin the approached the elder, giving him rather large glittering eyes.

"Ah, I don't remember you being this big."

He looked at Xiao Yin, marvelling at her newfound growth.

"So, did you remember what I asked of you before?"

Not looking up, he presented this question to Ming Yue. At this moment, the inheritor, Yu Hua, had left them alone. From the looks of it, it seemed that the elder wanted this to be private.

"Yes, I remember. I must go for first place or at least top ten."

"Right and if you succeed, I will teach you the "perfect technique". That is if you succeed."

"I am confident."

"Oh so you're confident.. Well then, come up and show me."