Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Ming Yue looked at her and nodded. 

"Yes, I just recently woke up and decided to look around for a bit. Have I intruded on something?" she asked. 

The doctor shook her head. 

"No, no, seeing you alive is a good thing. In a better situation, I would not be so unkempt but it has been hectic." 

Taking another look at her, Ming Yue found this doctor's clothes and hair to be a bit disheveled. Her hands were still covered in blood and her face was dull. She was tired, to say the least, perhaps exhausted would be a better word. Still, her eyes showed a bit of light, especially after seeing Ming Yue well. 

The cultivator looked around, studying the injured. 

"Did something happen? I thought that a barrier had been put up by the Cerulean Serpent?" she asked. 

The doctor sighed as she looked at the ground for a moment. 

"Yes, the barrier is still there but soldiers still have to be sent out to scout the area. This place is completely unknown to us outside of some cursory scouting from before. With that said, there are also many dangers that are unknown to us", she explained. 

She then looked at her patients. 

"The injuries they sustained outside are by no means minor. Attacks from beasts, deadly poisons, trying to deal with it all is difficult enough. But we are also running low on medical supplies. Medicinal pills don't seem to be quite as effective and the amount needed is twice what would usually be given. At this rate, we might not even be able to save them."

MIng Yue looked at the various doctors and then at the patients. She then reached for her spatial ring and took out piles and piles of medicinal plants along with her own special bandages.

"These might help for a bit but I will be back."

Leaving them to this doctor, she turned and briskly left. As for the doctor, she was dumbfounded by the amount as it was enough to grab the attention of the other doctors. 

"We should refine these quickly and use them! With this, we can save these soldiers!" the doctor muttered. 

The others looked to each other, reinvigorated as they took the plants and went off to create medicine. 

As for Ming Yue, she went quickly made her way to Xiao Yin and Hei Yue. 

"Scouting the area and forage for medicine, that is what I must do. That barrier is protecting us but it must've also attracted some attention. I should prepare accordingly."

Quickly moving, she reached for her sword only to find it nowhere to be found. 

'Hm? My sword..."

She checked her spatial ring but couldn't find it.

  "Strange, where's my sword? It wasn't in my room but I didn't take it with me. I certainly didn't leave it anywhere and I don't think I took it out accidentally in the medical tent. So where did it go? Did someone take it?" 

Then the cultivator began her search for Drifting Sky. 

"Have you seen my sword? Very thin and long, almost like a staff?"

"Do you know where it might be?"

"It's dark-stained wood and carved with mountains and clouds, there is also a sun and a moon carved on them as well. There are two gems on it, one gray and one violet. Have you seen it? Do you know who might have it?" 

Despite a full day of questioning and searching, they all had the same answer. 

None of them had seen it nor did they know where it was.

Ming Yue sat down somewhere random and began to think. She was both confused and irritated, not knowing where her sword could have gone. 

"How strange... Where could it be?" she wondered, "it couldn't have just run off and I don't think anyone here would steal it? It doesn't even look flashy, who would take it?" 

Then she remembered something. 

"I should ask Xue Yue", she thought, "Maybe she might have seen something."

And she did ask but the answer she was given wasn't great. 

"I don't know. Whatever you see, I see so when you lost consciousness, I saw nothing", Xue Yue replied. 

"Is that so? Then where is the sword? Where could it be?" 

If Xue Yue didn't know, Ming Yue was back to square one.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask those kids? They were there when you fainted. Or ask that serpent, Yin Bing, she might know too." 

"That's right, the children... I should ask them too." 

She stood up, heading towards them under Xue Yue's advice. With how much time had passed, she found many of them asleep under a few trees, huddled up with Hei Yue at the center of it. And Xiao Yin was perched above them, watching over all of them. 

But there were still a few who were awake, playing quietly in the sand. 

They heard her approach and turned to find her there. 

"Did you come back to play?" one of them asked.

She knelt down with a half-smile on her face. 

"Um, not yet, It's just... I can't find my sword and I don't know where it has gone. Do you by any chance know?" she asked. 

The children looked at each other before one of them pointed towards the lake. 

"The Cerulean Serpent has your sword", they answered. 

She looked at the lake, finding the surface to have ripples on it. And it wasn't just from several directions but came from a single point, the center of the lake. Ming Yue looked back to them, asking another question. 

"The serpent took my sword? Do you know why?" 

However, they all shook their heads, none of them knew why Yin Bing wanted her sword. 

"I see, thank you. I'm going to see if I can speak with the Cerulean Serpent."

The children smiled before running off to play elsewhere, not want to bother her. She saw them off before walking towards the very edge of the lake. 

"Senior? Senior? Do you have my sword by any chance? Would it... be possible to get it back?" she asked.

She was met with silence as the waves on the lake grew stronger before quieting down until becoming calm. Then Yin Bing's head emerged from the lake, right in front of Ming Yue. 

"Ah girl, it seems that you are awake now."

The World Serpent, spoke quietly to her so as to not draw any attention. This was a private matter after all. 

"It is good to see that you are well."

Ming Yue cupped her fists and bowed. 

"Thank you for your concern, senior."

Yin Bing chuckled, before moving onto the main topic at hand. 

"Yes, your sword. I found it very peculiar and decided to bring it back with me. It seems that you've had several masters work on it. Its quality is quite good and more importantly, it can even grow stronger. Whoever did that must have had an incredible understanding of the sword and the world's properties."

Ming Yue immediately thought back to Mei Zhen and the work she did on Drifting Sky. In an instant, things began to connect. 

"Did she do that as well? She made it easier for my energy to flow through it but must have also allowed it to grow stronger with me. That's why it can absorb my energy or cultivate with me!"

It made sense, such things only happened after that master forger worked on her sword. 

But she continued to listen to Yin Bing's explanation. 

"It wasn't perfect so I decided to help fix it and I let your sword bathe in the center of the lake. At this moment, it is there, absorbing the Quintessence Energy. Give it one year and it will become a peerless sword! One without equal!"

Ming Yue looked at the World Serpent in distress. 

"A year?"