Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Far from them were Ming Yue and Qing Chai, the former having landed on her feet while the latter fell into the swamp water. 

Ming Yue stood away from the edge and began to form dozens of lances, condensing them to the size of her arm. And then she waited. The surface of the swamp continued to ripple before bubbles climbed up. Suddenly, a hand shot out, grasping at the edge of the swamp before the Red Empress climbed out. 

Her lovely robes were wet and ripped, revealing more of her body. 

She panted heavily, a quiet hissing sound resonating with each breath. Looking up she glared at Ming Yue with a hateful rage. 

"You... you killed my daughters. All of them! With the help of those other pathetic humans!" she spat out. 

The young cultivator just stood and watched. Her silence and stillness only incensed Qing Chai even further. 

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" 

The demon screamed out and charged forward, her mouth gaping wide and that was the moment Ming Yue was waiting for. 

With a single thought, all of her wind lances flew forth, aiming for the insides of her mouth. 

"Is this how you killed them?! It's useless! I've been alive for over a hundred years! Can you really kill me?!" 

Qing Chai was quick, faster than her daughters, and avoided all of them. She cackled and hissed, finding this fight all too simple. 

"She must be around the level of the other Kings, a Sky Realm Expert then", Ming Yue thought.

She retreated, controlling her wind lances to turn back. 

The demon only ran after her, fixated on killing Ming Yue. Suddenly, she felt something slam into her back as the wind lances made contact. Before she could react, Qing Chai was sent soaring into a tree trunk. 

"There!"

Ming Yue then threw the Pearlstone Dagger, infusing it with her energy. Its speed tripled and the blade shot through the air before piercing the demon through the calf and into the trunk. Black blood spurted out of the wound before she ran forward, ripping the dagger out and vanished into the shadows. 

The Red Empress screamed in pain, with her gaping mouth, she bit through the tree trunk, ripping it to shreds. Looking down at the wound, she touched the blood before scouring the area around her. 

"You fucking bitch! I'll rip you to pieces, I'll stew you while you still breathe! I will savor your flesh to the very last breath!" she screeched, unable to hold in even a fraction of her rage. 

Despite the rage fueling her, she seemed to be alone. In this very part of the marshes, there was nothing but faded grass and dying trees. Her eyes darted from one point to the next, looking for any sign or trace of Ming Yue. 

From afar, the young cultivator watched carefully, preparing for her next move. 

But then the demon took a whiff of the air and turned around immediately, looking at Ming Yue. She cackled, going on all fours before leaping up at her. 

"You might have hidden your scent well but nothing escapes me!"

Qing Chai hissed as she flew towards Ming Yue, ready to bite her down. 

"Damn." 

The young cultivator immediately jumped back, leaving the shrubbery she hid in. From her hands, she shot out several waves of needles of wind and lightning. The Vore Demon landed on that very spot, biting down on the bushes and ripping them at the root. Then she leaped away, avoiding the attack.

"Stop running! Let me taste your flesh!" 

Qing Chai called out as she chased after her. 

"She's quick!" 

Ming Yue was taken aback by her speed. As confident as she was in her own swiftness, Qing Chai was nimble, leaping from one spot to another. Trying to land an attack was more than difficult, her attempts could barely touch the demon. Quickly thinking, she looked around her, trying to spot anything that could be used. 

"She's too focused on me, I have to take advantage of that, but how?" 

Her eyes flickered about but with Qing Chai at her tail, the scenery changing quickly. Then she suddenly realized something. 

"If that demon is focused only on me, what if I just disappear from her sight?" she thought. 

After all, techniques like Phantasmal Wind and Reaping Blade were meant to confuse the enemy, take them by surprise. If the Red Empress was so focused on her, completely disappearing was sure to shock her. 

"She found me through scent, then what about my very presence?" 

Without wasting another second, she turned and sprinted towards Qing Chai, who smiled at this. 

"Did you finally give up? Delivering yourself to me? Too bad, I won't let you die so quickly."

The mix of wild cackling and hissing echoed through the swamps. She quickly switched back to running on her feet and whipped her hands forward to reach for Ming Yue. Even as her leg bled, the pain didn't even seem to slow her down in the slightest. 

The distance between them shortened in seconds and soon enough, they were within the grasp of each other. Their eyes met and that was when Qing Chai realized it too late. 

"Why is she so calm?" 

And it happened.

"Phantasmal Wind."

Just as Qing Chai grabbed for Ming Yue's neck, she disappeared, leaving nothing more but a blurry trace of her visage. 

"What? Where are you?!" she screamed out. 

And as she looked around, Ming Yue reappeared with her dagger humming with power. Attacking from above, she struck down, driving the dagger towards the back of her neck. 

The demon spun around and swatted the dagger away before going for her throat. The nails on her finger seemed to sharpen as she moved to grab. 

But Ming Yue wasn't helpless, her Zephyr Claws appeared and she attacked. She went for Qing Chai's arm, lacerating her flesh. A shadow loomed over her as the Vore Demon's monstrous mouth opened up. 

"Shit!"

She could see the blackened fangs and the darkness of the Vore Demon's throat. There were hundreds of them, seemingly blotting out the sky. If it were anyone else, they would've been resigned to their fate. But Ming Yue still had a chance and if there wasn't, she would make one. 

Ming Yue then formed a lance of wind and lightning, a Storm Lance. There was no time for her to escape and she forced as much power as she could as quickly as she could. It exploded in size, crackling and spinning with wild fury. 

Qing Chai didn't even care, all she wanted to do was engulf her enemy. 

And the Storm Lance was set free, flying into her jaws with so much force that it sent her flying into the sky. 

"Aghk! You-" 

Qing Chai choked on the explosion as she flew in the air. The pain traveled from her mouth to the rest of her body, a piercing ache that seemed to grow with each second. Her body writhed and convulsed as the lightning shook her. She struggled to take back control but it was too late.

Ming Yue flew forth, flying above Qing Chai with another Storm Lance by her. Then she shot it, smashing Qing Chai in the stomach before slamming her back into the ground with a thunderous clap. 

The moment before she fell, blood welled up and sprayed out of her mouth as the air was pressed out of her body. 

But Ming Yue wasn't done yet, the lances just kept coming. It was as if lightning continued to strike down in one spot. She was not going to take any chances, not when she was about to die.

The sounds overtook everything else, flooding the ears of the soldiers, who looked up in shock.

"What is that? A storm?" one of them asked. 

Zi Jing looked up in the air, studying the skies. He even looked at the ground which trembled with each strike.

"Either we've awakened a beast or that was someone's true strength."