Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Is it me or has it there been much less of them?"

Tuan looked around with his staff before smashing one of the soldiers to the ground and tossing them off. 

Everyone glanced at each other before nodding. 

"Perhaps, their regeneration is finally at its limit", they thought. 

However, they then noticed the commotion brought by Ming Yue's group and the bodies they left. All of them felt shock by this. 

"Who are they? One focuses on the Wind Dao and the other is talented in the Light Dao. Their cooperation needs work but, for them to do this? They aren't ordinary."

With their experience and cultivation, they noticed several aspects about these two. Most importantly, Ming Yue and Hua Xiong was on their side. With the pressure lessening on them, they took the opportunity to study the two young cultivators. 

"The one with the sword is good. Quick, decisive, and accurate, she has definitely killed many before. Her potential is excellent."

"A Mistral Fox and a Star Owl, what an interesting combination."

"What about her comrade? A Light Dao Cultivator? It is rare to find one talented in that regard, even more so one that is practiced in combat. Not to mention, she is actually able to dispel whatever has been done to these people."

"That is true. Either they have encountered this before or that Light Dao Cultivator is a monstrous genius."

"Ha, the younger generation... We are already being outshined here."

"If that's the case, we should show our strength. Push these damned soldiers back and make it easier for them to be dispeled."

Their conversation was quick but a new plan had already formed. Immediately, they exerted much more power and began to force the Immortal Army back. The ones dealt with by Ming Yue and Hua Xiong had melted into a gray sludge. There was no movement, no attempt to regenerate, and just like that the Immortal Army quickly dwindled. With the help of the Sky Realm experts, Hua Xiong worked even faster as she grew more accustomed to destroying what had been done to them. 

The battle was now practically won. All the Immortal Army had was numbers and regeneration, their biggest advantage. Without that, numbers meant little to the the experts they fought against. 

With Ming Yue's search for Zuo Er, she scanned the surroundings, knocking off the masks of the soldiers to see if he was among them. 

"Where is he? Don't tell me he hasn't returned yet?"

She looked around furiously, the thought that she had arrived before him was laughble but could be true. With each face, she only grew more frustrated. None of them were him but there were still plenty to more fight. 

There were several hundred of them, nearing a thousand even and she had only gone through a fifth of them. 

Ming Yue was practically a whirlwind as she tore through the army. At one point, she summoned a Blasting Gale and sent towards wherever it was dense with the army. It was becoming even more chaotic but Ming Yue thrived in the disruption, usig it to take down even more of these soldiers. 

"Geh!"

She swiftly turned after hearing a cry and saw Hua Xiong getting grabbed by one of the soldiers. But the latter did not need help.

With an open palm, she shot off a blast of energy that blew out her attacker's midsection. The attack left only the legs and everything from the chest up. 

"You're going too fast, she's barely keeping up."

Xue Yue immediately pointed out the issue, one that the other experts noticed before. The pace at which the two fought at was different and while Hua Xiong tried her best to catch up, she was still lagging behind. As powerful as she was, close range combat was not her forte.

Ming Yue looked at Hua Xiong, breathing hard and fighting whatever slipped through Ming Yue's influence. She whistled, calling back Xiao Yin and Hei Yue, who were in the middle of attacking the soldiers. 

"Protect her, don't worry about me", she spoke to them bluntly, not allowing the two beasts to fight back. 

They were concerned for her, looking with unease before going to aid Hua Xiong.

Facing the Immortal Army again, she did not rush in as recklessly as before and instead began to actively look for Zuo Er. 

"Where are you, damn it?" she cursed silently, scanning every face she saw. 

Then after many more soldiers, she finally found him. But there was something strange about his behavior. His mask was broken, revealing his pale and sly face. Unlike the others, there were five lines on his face, an additional one from when they had met before. 

She quickly moved only to find him blindly charge at her, thrusting his swords forward. 

"This is..."

Ming Yue shook the attack off and threw him back. Zuo Er just stood back up and charged forward like a simple puppet. He did not speak nor did his face show any sign of life. Zuo Er was just liek the others, certainly he was quick and powerful but his movements were just simple and predictable. 

She looked at him in confusion and disbelief. 

"Is it because of that fifth line?" she thought. 

When they first fought, Ming Yue had always taken note of the lines on his face. Before there were only four lines but now there was a fifth one. 

"Does...does that signify his failures? Or the changes done to him?" she thought. 

She was partially right. These lines did represent the times he failed but also the times in which a certain mechanism was to be activated, specifically the rebirth from an egg. There were special methods to creating this technique as it was meant to be life-saving once the regeneration failed. 

But none of that mattered, it seemed that Zuo Er had used them all and now, he became an ordinary member of the the Immortal Army. 

Ming Yue was disappointed and dissatisfied, killing him when he was like this would not make her happy. 

"At the very least... I won't have to deal with you anymore."

She moved quickly, dismembering him before tossing his parts towards Hua Xiong.

"He's the one."

Once she spoke, Ming Yue moved forward, culling whatever was left of the Immortal Army. 

As for Hua Xiong, she looked at Zuo Er's face and body before destroying it with her energy. 

"I suppose I should thank you for letting me understand how to dispel the curses done to your bodies."

If it wasn't for the remains of Zuo Er's rebirth, she would not have been able to do any of this. 

Hua Xiong had kept several pieces of the broken eggshell, studying it and using a number of techniques before figuring out the nature of the Death Energy. From there, she tested it out and refined the technique on the Immortal Army. With the knowledge she gained from the Light of Fury's inheritance, such a feat was not impossible but she did not rest she had made a breakthrough. 

Looking at Zuo Er's melting corpse, she felt nothing for him, neither gratitude for giving her this information or hatred for harming her sect. 

"You're just a puppet now. What is the point in staying hateful of you? I just hope my juniors and seniors are safe."

Indeed, all she really wanted was to save her sect. Despite her cold demeanor, she still cared for life, especially towards those she knew. 

At this very moment, this the battle was over. The Immortal Army had been cut down in half and those that remained were too weak to clash against the Sky Realm Experts.

And the battle in the skies was looking grim for Dai Mian. 

"Your Immortal Army is gone. Surrender, master."

The Grand Elder spoke once more, pointing out this defeat.