Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

The beast was suddenly knocked back several steps before steadying itself. Its mouth seethed with bubbles as it spun about looking for who had attacked during its mealtime. Before it could even spot something, a bombardment of Blasting Gales fell upon it, pushing the crab back again. 

But despite all of that, its shell showed no sign of cracking. 

"Tough! It's even tougher than the Stoneguise Lizards! What kind of monstrous crab is this?" 

Ming Yue looked at it with a bit of apprehension. There wasn't even a single crack, not even a fracture on its blue shell. 

The crab's mouth continued to bubble and pop as it swung out one of its claws, snapping at the air. 

"I'll keep its attention, the rest of you break down its legs!" 

She immediately flew forward after shouting instructions, continuing her barrage of attacks. 

The others looked to each other, unsure of how to proceed with her instructions. Xuan Yin quickly realized this and lead everyone out. 

"We aim for the leg in the back, focus on the joints! Keep your distance if you can and attack as much as possible!" 

After speaking, she ran forward, shooting several arrows into the cracks between its shells. 

"Liao Mao!"

Calling for her falcon, Xuan Yin leaped up and began to fly as the Nightwing Falcon flew towards her. 

"Watch the area, make sure nothing comes close."

After speaking, she headed towards Ming Yue, who continued firing at the crab. 

"Hey, be careful with that thing!" she shouted, "It's an Everglade Crab!"

"What? You know what it is?" she asked. 

Xuan Yin nodded. 

"Before I came, I read through the documents over all of the creatures discovered on this continent. The Everglade Crab is one of them!"

As she spoke, the archer fired off arrows, shooting into its mouth. The Everglade Crab fumed as it spun and thrust its claws forth, looking to grab one of them. 

"Watch out!"

The pair quickly descended, avoiding the attack before retaliating

"It's a Rank 6! It's easy to avoid its strikes but the shell is near impossible to break. You have to go for the joints! Maybe even through the mouth or the back", Xuan Yin explained. 

The young cultivator looked at her before starting back at the Everglade Crab. 

It had six long legs and a spiked shell which was a cloudy gray color. There were two claws, one that was long and sharp, the other was thicker and fatter.* Apart from its massive size, bubbles continued to flow from its tiny mouth. The only sounds it made were the popping and gurgling of them. 

"In that case, can you keep it busy from me?" she asked. 

Xuan Yin nodded to Ming Yue before drawing her bow once more.

"I do remember reading that its flesh is sweet!" she shouted out. 

Although she drew her bow, there was no arrow on it but Xuan Yin was utterly focused. 

"The Four Sins: Hatred."

A black aura emerged from her body from which it began to coalesce into four black arrows.

With the first, she shot it with ease, sending it flying towards one of its legs. As it made contact, the arrow burst into black flames that bit at its shell, melting it ever so slightly. 

"Lust..."

The next was much quicker, aimed towards the heart of the beast only to disperse as it landed. 

By this shot, the Everglade Crab was beyond enraged, finally spotting Xuan Yin with its beady black eyes. It moved only to limp forward as one of its hind legs had snapped in half. 

"It's done!"

The various cultivators all backed off having done their job.

Meanwhile, Ming Yue was on the ground, preparing another Blasting Gale. 

This time, she poured as much power into it, condensing the attack at the same time. It spun furiously, causing the air around her to grow restless. 

"Sadness..."

With Xuan Yin's third arrow, it was slower but larger, heading towards one of its eyes. The Everglade Crab raised one of its claws to block the shot only for it to change directions, avoiding the claw and piercing its left eye. 

By the fourth arrow, both of them were ready to unleash their attack. 

Their aura continued to rise and rise before neither could no longer hold it. 

"Back away now!"

Having noticed this, the others ran away to avoid the blast. 

"Corruption."

"Blasting Gale."

Releasing at the same time, Xuan Yin's arrow flew forward before shattering into pieces as it hit the crab between the eyes. They stuck to the shell, spreading like a disease as it began to corrode the outside, turning it to dust.

But it could not break past the shell and into the flesh. 

"Tch, not enough."

Xuan Yin clicked her tongue before drawing her bow again. 

But not before the Blasting Gale flew forward and spiraling into the Everglade Crab's leg. It hit right where the leg was connected to the main body, going straight for the root. An explosive wind burst out, causing the surroundings to bend and break under its force. The grass flew about as trees cracked and the waters rippled into waves. 

Following it was a crack and a boom as the entire leg was severed, crashing to the ground. There were cracks on its underbelly as the Everglade Crab stepped back in pain. But it retaliated soon enough, bringing down its claws. Slamming them onto the ground causing the land to shake and tremble. 

"Get back! Hold onto each other!"

The twenty or so men and women all stayed together, trying their best to keep steady. 

But the beast wasn't done, the fuming bubbles from its mouth spewed out, floating into the air. There were hundreds of them, all of which were the size of a grown man's head.

"Quick, protect each other! Avoid the bubbles!"

As they floated down, everyone took on defensive stances shielding themselves with their weapons. Those like Ding Feng held their blades in front of them, protecting themselves and those behind them.

Then there was Jian Yi and several of her juniors, she gave them all a look before running forward. 

"Jadetree Sanctuary!"

Including her, there were four of them, raising their arms up together. Roots emerged from the ground, twisting with one another into a dome shielding all of them. It grew and grew before forming a tree. As it rose up, bubbles would inevitably hit it and when they popped, they exploded with a thundering bang. It trembled with each pop, causing the wood to splinter and crack. 

"Senior Sister, this won't hold on for long! We have to do something!"

They all looked to her for guidance but not even she had a plan. This was a Rank 6 monster, something capable of destroying large cities and even small countries. Everyone here was of the Earth Realm and higher but it wasn't quite enough. 

Both Ming Yue and Xuan Yin watched their comrades battered down by these bubbles. Then they looked at each other. 

"I'll deal with the claws, you deal with the mouth", said Ming Yue. 

The archer nodded before shooting off more Corruption arrows. Ming Yue flew down to the ground and created another Blasting Gale, bringing it up to the same level as the last. She tried her utmost to do so, keeping her balance under the cracking dirt and stone. 

"The right one first."

Eyeing the thick claw, she sent it flying straight into the place between the claw and its arm. Landing with a bang, the shockwave caused all of the bubbles in the air to burst while knocking the crab away. 

But the claw was still intact, albeit, it laid limp to side. 

With two legs gone and one of its claws broken, the Everglade Crab was crippled but it was far from finished.