Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Within the forest, alliances had been made and groups have formed, mostly filled of Elite and ordinary disciples, who made up the majority of those within this stage. A tactic like this was useless later on but as of now, it was all about survival and for that, the weak had to be taken out.

This group of eight was one that deemed Ming Yue a simple and easy target. Her aura was miniscule, she was alone and there didn't seem to be anything extraordinary about her.

"She stopped, she must have run out of energy. Let's go eliminate her!"

At the front was a young woman followed by three men and four other women. All of them wore different colored robes but wielded the same weapon. It was a very strange one, a metal rod topped with a demonic-looking claw. Known as the Zhua, the nails were deadly, able to pierce flesh and rip it apart. It is a heavy weapon for just the claw itself could smash tree trunks. A niche weapon but a powerful one nonetheless.

It seemed that all of them were from the same hall, which could only be the Zhua Hall.

Ming Yue turned towards them, hearing what that woman said.

It was obvious that they were not going to give up on chasing her, which meant that she had to make the first move.

"Hmph, she must have given up, it took her long enough."

"I'm done hunting down these weaklings. After this, we head south, we should target an Inheritor next!"

All of them felt quite satisfied as confidence surged within them. To think they would become so brazen after a few successful kills. They quickly closed in on her location for once this one was defeated they would hunt for stronger. At the front, the young woman held her Zhua up high and swung down, aiming to rip Ming Yue's shoulders off.

As she swung down, the claw caught nothing as Ming Yue's body seemed to become an illusion.

"Reaping Blade..."

To this young cultivator's shock, Ming Yue had vanished and only the sound of someone's body dropping to the ground was heard.

They turned around to find one of their comrades turning into bits of light. None of them saw it happen, it was unexpected and simply too quick.

"Stick together, watch all angles! She must still be here."

None of them knew what had just happened but they could not just stand there.

"That's one... Should I go left or right?"

Ming Yue hid behind one of the trees and studied the remaining seven. That first kill was wholly lucky for it was unexpected and their guard was down. But now it would be much more difficult. Alert and aware, they held their Zhua in front of them, ready to attack at the slightest movement.

In a dense forest like this, Drifting Sky's length made it unsuitable to use but she still had ways of attacking.

"Zephyr Claw..."

Those claws of the Zhua were sharp but Ming Yue had claws of her own. She quickly moved, shifting from tree to tree, allowing nothing more but a shadow to be seen.

"Over there!"

"She's here!"

"Behind that tree!"

For every shadow, these cultivators attacked swiftly. Cracking sounds and demolished trees was all they found as the Zhua felled tree after tree but each one revealed only another tree. They walked further away, smashing one tree after another to find her.

Their young leader was the only one to have yet to make a move as she closely scanned her surroundings. But then her eyes lit up as she realized something and quickly shouted out orders.

"Regroup! She's trying to separate us!"

She was a second too late for Ming Yue had split them apart far enough and a target was found.

"Damn it, stop running around and fight! You cannot escape!" one of them yelled out in frustration.

With the next tree, he saw another shadow and immediately moved. There was a look of determination and focus in his face as energy coursed through his body and weapon.

"Wrathful Grasp!"

The Zhua in his hand seemed to come alive as this demonic claw revealed a powerful aura, forceful and tyrannic. With its power, the tree before it turned into splinters revealing a shadowy figure. He smiled at this sight and moved in to kill.

"I've got you now!"

He was quick but she was a step ahead. With her Zephyr Claws, she leaped forward, grabbing his neck and ripping it off, killing him in an instant. Then she vanished once more like a ghost.

By now, the sun was beginning to set within this arena and it was getting darker by the minute.

As Ming Yue's hunters gathered together, their number had decreased by one more.

"Elder sister, perhaps we should retreat..."

One of them spoke to their leader, the young woman thought for a moment. She hesitated at this decision before choosing her next action.

"No, we should continue. Don't forget we have three lives, even if we lose to this person we still have two more."

Having Ming Yue's body disappear in front of her and kill someone in her team was damaging to her pride. Some unknown disciple was able to do this to an Elite Disciple like her, to some extent she felt helpless.

"But this person has three lives as well. It is not worth it to sacrifice ourselves for this one person. Why can't we wait for someone else to target her?"

They were right, eight against one and they've already lost two people. All of them though this, it was not worth it to be this aggressive.

"Fine, we should find a place to recuperate. Let's leave."

Personally, it pained her to leave like this and let Ming Yue get away, but the latter was not going to let them get away. It was about survival where the strong stood above the weak.

Just as they turned around, Ming Yue attacked. Five wind needles all flew in a line, piercing the skulls of two more people. As they dropped to the ground, the others whipped around, as they found more of their comrades turning into motes of light.

"Damn it!"

They cursed out loud, searching in this waning light for Ming Yue's figure. Her presence was simply hidden, they could not sense her whereabouts at all. With in this darkening forest, they became the prey within her hunting ground.

"Make a clearing, smash the trees away so that she has nowhere to hide!"

They moved madly, swinging their Zhua around and smashing the trees. Soon enough, they cleared several meters worth of space but that did nothing to curb their racing hearts.

There were only four of them left and they stuck to each other like glue. She waited as did they, trying to anticipate when and where the next move would be. Minutes later, there was no sound made, no movement of any sort, nothing at all.

"Where is she? When is she going to move?"

They were all so focused on their surroundings that they did not notice a figure emerging from their shadows. Two daggers showed themselves held by darkness, they shined against the moonlight as each one charged into the backs of two of them.

"Urgh!"

"Argh!"

Stabbed in the back, they fell to the ground, curling in pain but the strike was not enough to kill them yet. The other two could didn't even realize before the two daggers were pulled out and attacked them.

"It's someone else! She has an accomplice!"

The elite disciple called out and immediately defended herself swatting the dagger away. However, the one beside her was too slow and the dagger pierced her heart. The shadowy hands that held it, gripped tightly, pulling the dagger out before retreating into the shadows.

Suddenly the group of eight had become one but who was it that came?