Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

As the clouds above the Demon Continent began to churn, the stares of the many Clear Spring Mountain Disciples intensified.

The last to enter the arena, Kuang Li had come.

Ming Yue waited on the other side, sitting down with her legs crossed. She used her time as best as she could to recover, wanting to be at her peak state for this fight.

Looking at Kuang Li, she sized him up.

He was a handsome boy, his long hair was kept together with a simple gray ribbon. His facial proportions were balanced and his body was thin but muscular. Wearing white robes, his arm sleeves were rolled back, revealing snow white skin. But there was one striking feature that he revealed, a great long scar that wrapped around his left arm, like a dragon that coiled around it.

Despite his beautiful face, his expression showed nothing. There was no emotion within his eyes. It felt like he was not staring at Ming Yue like a human, but as prey.

He cupped his hands and bowed.

"This one would like to battle", he said, speaking very little.

His eyes were unnerving but that only served to ignite Ming Yue's spirit. He showed a great intent to battle and she would not disappoint him.

Kuang Li carried nothing in his hands, he stood straight up, relaxed and his hands were open. Palms facing towards Ming Yue, his knees were slightly bent, one foot in front of the other.

Ming Yue took a different stance than her other duels, her legs were bent and her body leaned forward. Drifting Sky was unsheathed and facing the ground, both hands gripped the handle tightly.

At the sound of the judge's voice, the match began.

In less than a second, Ming Yue burst forth, swinging her sword at Kuang Li. She was just shy of a foot when she found herself thrown into the air. Turned upside down, she saw Kuang Li jump after her, his hands open and prepared to the grab her leg. Rather than dodge, she pushed herself down with a gust of wind, her foot aimed at his face. However, it did not meet its target. Instead, she was thrown down towards the ground, slamming onto it with a great impact.

The air was knocked out of her lungs and she gasped for air.

"What sort of techniques is he using? Is Kuang Li using my own power against me?" she thought quickly.

Her arm and leg that Kuang Li grabbed was numb with pain, he gripped her like the talons of an eagle, capturing its prey. With a quick look, Ming Yue noticed red hand prints where she was grabbed.

"He's doing much more than redirecting my power", she thought.

Kuang Li stood in front of her, waiting for her next move. His eyes had a look of boredom, it seemed to him that Ming Yue was a bit of a disappointment to him.

"I wonder if she has figured him out", one of the judges spoke his thoughts, sharing them with the others.

"Even if she did, Kuang Li has been practicing these palm techniques for all of his life. In the end, he will win through experience", another judge replied.

Kuang Li's techniques were hard to decipher, he did not add much power, only borrowing from Ming Yue. However, the way her body reacted to his attacks showed that there was much more to it.

He has a strong grip but there must've been another factor.

Ming Yue formed small wind needles before sending them off. A piercing move that Kuang Li took care of easily, pushing them away with his open palms.

"If you will not move", he said, "Then I shall begin."

With both hands on front of him, He opened them into palms creating a circling motion. Power began to well up in his arms, slowly leaving his open palms. The energy began to coalesce, forming intricately designed circles on each hand. At the center was the Yin Yang symbol and the outer layer was the 8 trigrams, forming the Bagua.

Kuang Li moved forward in slow steps, every part of his body changed stances at each step. The two Bagua's slowly grew in size and power until they were three times the size of his palms. At the 8th step, he sped up, running towards Ming Yue, who fought him head on.

Every strike she made was deflected by the Bagua Circle on his hands.

Palm against sword, Ming Yue found herself at a disadvantage. Kuang Li attacked at every opportunity possible, giving her no room to move forward or back. Ming Yue had to pay attention to his hands, making sure that he would not grab a hold of her.

He did not seem impatient and showed little emotion, in fact he did not seem very enthused to fight.

"I should end this soon", he said.

Kuang Li brought his palms together, forming a larger formation. He turned it towards Ming Yue and a suction force came from the Bagua.

Ming Yue was slowly pulled in, countering the force with a strong gust of wind. But Kuang Li got what he wanted, bringing Ming Yue close to him.

With his right palm, he attacked three points of her body, the head, the heart and the stomach. Ming Yue was pushed back from the attack but managed to not fly out of the arena.

Kuang Li did not stop there, he rushed forward and grabbed Ming Yue by the wrist, throwing her into the air. He followed up with a palm strike against her stomach again sending her down to the arena.

Ming Yue could do nothing, there might not be many injuries externally but internally, her body was in a state of chaos. Her organs had been damaged and blood slowly trickled down her mouth. Caused by Kuang Li's three strikes, her force had gone rampant and out of control, creating all sorts of damage within her meridians.

She could only focus on resolving the issue as Kuang Li threw her around.

Recovering from the fall, she knelt on one knee, supporting herself with Drifting Sky.

Kuang Li stood and watched, there was a barely any sign of emotion. Perhaps this was why many people feared him, he wasn't crazy or wild but calm and emotionless. With this sort of mentality, his techniques were quite vicious. If anything, he was aiming on crippling Ming Yue rather than killing her, a fate that some consider worse than death.

Yet, the judges did nothing, they only watched and waited. It was only at the critical moment that they would interfere, if they didn't, they would not be able to see an awe-inspiring sight.

"I would suggest surrendering", said Kuang Li, "Your energy has gone rampant due to my Needle Point Palm Technique. I've attacked you at three points of your body causing your body to be unable to regulate itself. If left alone, your energy will continue to rise until there is nothing left and your body could detonate."

Detonation?!

With this technique she would detonate? What sort of technique would do this?

At this point, Ming Yue could choose to surrender. She already had three victories, something that she and the vice sect leader agreed upon. However, she was not one to surrender, especially against an opponent such as this. Unless, she had no other option, she would not yield to Kuang Li.

But she did have an option, an option that many would deem unreasonable but she would not go down so easily.

If all of her energy was being drawn out, then she would use all of it.

She forced the energy into submission, making it flow through her body again. On the outside, a pale blue aura emerged from her body. It was barely under control, but her body burned through the power. Power coursed through her like a raging river, full of power.

Kuang Li looked surprised, "Why are you not surrendering?"

This weaker opponent of his did not surrender like he had expected.

Ming Yue was too focused on herself too even hear him.. From here on out, she would on focus on one thing, the opponent in front of her.