Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Ming Yue nodded at him.

"I'll go get you some tea", said Elder Fei, leaving the room as well.

She circulated her energy, checking to see if there were any issues with her body. The numbing pain in her head slowly dissipated. Minutes later, she stopped and stood up from her bed, feeling much better than before.

By her side, Xiao Yin and Hei Yue stared at her with worried looks, nestling their bodies close to her as if she was freezing in the cold.

"Hehe, I'm fine you two", she looked at them and smiled warmly.

Looking around, her room was a rather ornate one. Green and gold colored the walls, there was large shelf with a desk next to it. Within the shelf, there were small clay jars, suffusing a medicinal aura. Sweet and earthy, the smell gave her a sense of calmness.

In the middle of the room was a small table along with some stools. The top was made of a white marble while the legs were a dark colored wood. On the table, there was a white pot of tea as well as a cup.

Elder Fei must have not wanted to bother her and left the pot of tea. Ming Yue walked up and poured herself a cup. Still warm, she took a sip and enjoyed the taste, a gentle mix of herbs that warmed her body.

After several minutes of getting used to her surroundings, she left the room with her two pets. As she walked around, Ming Yue noticed the sect's state. Everyone seemed to be busy, rushing to go somewhere or do something. She wondered what was going on as everyone seemed to move twice or even three times as fast as her. No one seemed to take note of her.

She strolled through and reached the main hall in a rather carefree manner. She didn't even have her sword with her, having left it in the room.

Looking in, she saw Xuan Han, Wen Jing, and the other elders all talking with the vice sect leader. They stood around a table, staring and pointing at different parts of it. She was noticed quite quickly as the vice sect leader looked at her and smiled.

"Don't mind us, the sect leader past this corridor. She is currently recuperating from her tribulation", she explained.

Ming Yue nodded and thanked her. She walked past the group, catching a glimpse of what they were all looking at. It was a map of Clear Spring Mountain and the area surrounding it. There were numerous dots on it, written in such a way that she recognized it as a formation of some sort. Multiple patterns and arrays that made up a much larger circle, one that covered the entire mountain.

This made her even more curious as to what was happening.

She moved through the corridor, reaching a quaint little room. It was simple and had two other doors that she could only guess lead to a courtyard. The room itself had a stone in the shape of a lotus with Senior Qing meditating on it.

Her eyes opened, a pair of sparkling white that quickly turned back to brown pupils.

"Ming Yue, it is good that you are well", she said.

Getting up from her seat, the stone lotus gave off a faint glow before turning back. Senior Qing walked towards her.

"Sit down, I want to check your body first", she told Ming Yue, who promptly sat on the floor.

Senior Qing placed her hand on her back and began examining her body.

"Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any issues. Strange, I thought there would be some effects for pulling you into my tribulation", she said, "Well, no matter, I'll take you to the Unstable Peak."

She withdrew her hand and opened the doors to a small path that led up the mountain. The verdant scenery and luscious landscape slowly faded as the air had begun to grow colder.

Lifeless trees and cold, hard soil replaced them. Walking up the path, it was strangely silent, not even the sound of wind was present.

The path began to splinter off into different regions and Senior Qing had taken one of paths that veered towards the right. It grew colder and colder, forcing Ming Yue to circle her energy in order to keep warm. The path they followed leaded to a small mountain peak. It was quite calm compared to how Senior Qing had described it. There was a stone platform, just large enough for one person to sit. It was circular in shape and surrounded by numerous misshapen stones.

Ming Yue felt quite confident that she would last a fair bit on it.

"In case you're wondering, I have yet to step activate the formation", said Senior Qing, quickly dispelling Ming Yue's confidence.

However, she was still quite interested in the peak and was committed to entering.

Senior Qing stopped just meters from the platform and turned around.

"I should warn you now. On a quiet day like this, not even I can predict how the formation will react. All I can tell you now is that once you step onto the platform, the formation will activate and the power will gather quickly. The one who created this formation, the first queen has separated its strength into five levels. I don't believe that you have ever experienced something like this before, so I will put you on the first level", she said.

"You can cultivate here for three days. Once that time ends, I will send someone to stop the formation and get you down."

Ming Yue understood and gave her a reassuring nod. She stepped into the platform and looked around.

For what it was, the view was quite nice. She could see the many houses and buildings of Clear Spring Mountain beneath her. She sat down and crossed her legs, waiting for ther formation to activate.

Senior Qing looked at her quietly, before tapping her feet on the ground three times. A slow hum began and wind started to gather.

She watched as the formation started up, making sure that Ming Yue was not going to be in serious harm.

Ming Yue herself, felt the platform vibrate before a faint pressure began to bear down her. Suddenly, the wind began to circle her, they began to sharpen. Some winds came closer than others, barely touching her face. At first there were scratches here and there. Her face, her clothes, her hands suffered from these light scratches.

This was certainly different than anything she had experienced before. There were constant feints, waiting for her to fight back. If that weren't enough, the mounting pressure from the gathering energy had begun to exert herself onto her body.

She focused solely on cultivation, absorbing as much energy as she could. The power was strong and incredibly rough. Ming Yue could only incorporate it bit by bit, circulating her energy throughout her body.

Refining it was already difficult, but this formation made it quite difficult to keep her body under control. However, she was hanging on.

Senior Qing had deemed it safe for her and so she left Ming Yue alone.

Walking down the mountain, she met up with the elders to discuss their preparations.

"Is she doing fine?" asked Wen Jing.

"Yes, how are the preparations?"

"We are almost complete. The formation only needs another day to finish."

"Alright then, send out the news about my breakthrough...rather send out invitations. If anything, they probably know by now."

"Yes, Sect Leader!"

As Senior Qing descended the mountain, she looked back up at where Ming Yue was.

"I hope that you will not disappoint me", she muttered under her breath.