Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

In the chaos, the crew members of the sky ship found that something was amiss. 

"This pressure...it's not very high", Boss Hang thought. 

They were outnumbered by a large margin. There were only a hundred of them while the Gold Monkey Pirates had over a thousand members. Yet, despite these odds, the situation did not seem as bad as they thought it would be. It felt manageable to them. 

The same could not be said for the pirates. 

They were in disarray and too many of their comrades had died. It came to a point where even Xing Dao found the situation to be troublesome. He looked at the sky ship, trying to locate the source of this problem. 

"What is...a young girl? A little girl like her is able to do this much? Are my men that weak?"

He spoke with disbelief and anger as he watched Ming Yue's figure, flashing about. 

She moved quickly and effortlessly, killing three or four of the pirates in one fell swing. Some were perhaps a bit stronger and managed to avoid death. But they could not avoid it for much longer. With her off hand, she sent out numerous wind needles to finish them. 

She looked towards another direction where arcs of light and black fog flashed about.

"Those two must be having some fun."

Xiao Yin and Hei Yue moved separately from her, taking control of one section of the deck. Hei Yue hid within the fog, the Mistral Fox's dark silver fur shined as it bit and clawed the ankles of any unsuspecting pirate. Xiao Yin flew up in the air, its claws glowed with a luminescent light as it threw crescent arcs of light energy. 

The pair made for a troublesome team as entering that fog was most certainly death. 

Seeing that they were not in a danger, Ming Yue did as she pleased, pushing back and defending a quarter of the ship on her own. 

"Damn it! Surround her! We have to stop her immediately!"

More and more of the pirates began to pursue her.

She was now the greatest threat but Ming Yue could not be caught. If need be, she could just enter Hei Yue's black fog. 

"Quick, Wei La, Zuan Gan! Go and protect the ship!"

From the stairs that descended down, two figures shot out and took their stand at the frontlines.  One wielded a spear and the other used a round shield as a weapon. They were the guards from before and the one they protect, their young mistress, watched from behind. 

Their presence brought the attention of Xing Dao, who now found his own target. 

"Hmph, interesting. The guards are quite competent and they serve that little girl. I wonder how much she would be worth."

Holding his harpoon gun, he aimed carefully and shot, shooting for an obscure part of the ship. 

Ming Yue noticed their presence as well but thought little of it. With those two guards, the little girl was quite safe. Even still, it was quite rash of her to act in this way. 

Both Wei La and Zuan Gan held their own as together, they were able to take on multiple pirates at once. From the looks of it, these two were at the Earth Realm while these pirates were mostly at the Human Realm. As a pair, they did well to keep a distance between their young mistress and these unsavory people. 

"Blue Dragon Burst!"

"Ox-King's Hammer!"

From Wei La's spear, an azure dragon of water flew from the tip of his spear, charging ferociously at the pirates. Its jaws were gaping wide as it engulfed them within its body and drowned them. Zuan Gan was a body cultivator as his body went into a stance. Bringing his shield forward, his body produced a bull's roar as he charged forward, crushing the incoming pirates with sheer force. 

The young girl had a very proud expression and looked towards Ming Yue, trying to show her superiority in some way. Unfortunately, Ming Yue wasn't looking nor would she have cared that much. 

"Hmph! Wei La, Zuan Gan! You better not disappoint me!"

She pouted and yelled out to her poor bodyguards.

"Yes, young mist-" 

The two guards were suddenly thrown back, sent flying into the cabin walls as a towering man stood in front of the young girl. 

"Well hello there! I wonder whose child you are. A merchant? A high standing official, perhaps? It doesn't quite matter, as long as you're worth something."

It was Xing Dao, sneering at the little girl as he brandished his thick saber. The handle itself was long enough to grasp with two hands. It was a mixture of purple and brass, while the blade itself was made from a golden tinted metal. 

"Young Mistress! Run! It's too dangerous!"

Wei La yelled out as he supported himself with his spear and Zuan Gan stood up, faring much better as a body cultivator.  However, they were too far away and several pirate stood in their way. 

"If you dare touch her, the Golden Treasure Kingdom will not forgive you!" Zuan Gan shouted at Xing Dao, whose eyes lit up. 

"The Golden Treasure Kingdom? Really now... If that's the case, I certainly can't let you go."

How much could she be ransomed for? If it was from the Golden Treasure Kingdom, that number was limitless. He threw his hands forward, looking to take this young girl away. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough.

"Phantasmal Wind."

Ming Yue's sword appeared, aimed for his neck. Xing Dao immediately turned blocking the strike with his saber.

"Urgh..."

Despite his stature, the force of the strike pushed him back and caught him off guard. Ming Yue's body materialized like a ghost as she stood between him and his prey. 

"You..."

Regaining his composure, Xing Dao sharpened his eyes as he looked at her. Unlike most of the people here, she was strong. He could sense it, the lingering aura of death and blood. 

"Were you the one that attacked my fleet earlier?" he asked. 

Ming Yue did not respond, readying her sword and protecting the young girl. Mist began to seep from her clothes as the armor she wore transformed.* No longer was it a simple and beautiful hanfu, her sash morphed into a white metallic waist armor and her sleeves changed as well.

Her right arm featured a gauntlet and vambrace that flared out. Her left arm was different, it was fully covered from the hand to the shoulders. Rather than a flared out vambrace,  it was the pauldron that extended past her shoulder, flaring out. 

This was the main aspect of her Changing Clouds Armor, it transformed and improved her defense without sacrificing mobility. Furthermore, it even improved her speed. Outside of these two reasons, it could also repair itself, a feature that Ming Yue thoroughly needed. It was simply too convenient to not have. 

Xing Dao whistled.

"I wonder how much that's worth!"

He attacked, thrusting his saber forward as the gold tint gleamed under the sun. Some sort of gold aura surrounded it, it gave a feeling that touching it would not be a good idea. 

"Lightning?" Ming Yue thought. 

She took a step back sheltering the young girl behind her as she dealt with the attack. Parrying it, Ming Yue then moved forward, going on the offensive. 

"Men! Take the girl, she's worth something and give me my harpoon!"

Xing Dao yelled out before focusing on the opponent before him. 

"Come, little girl! Let's see how strong you are!"

He gave a hearty laugh and surged with power as he jumped back. From the air, one of the pirates threw a harpoon to him, it was connected by several meters of rope. It was a strange weapon to have but he wielded it well.. With a saber in one hand and the harpoon on the other, the captain of the Gold Monkey Pirates charged forward.