Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Right, right, from what I gather, not a single animal of beast lives there. It's all plants, from poisonous ones to flesh-eating ones. I hear it's quite a terrifying place actually", Xuan Yin muttered. 

Ming Yue gave her a funny look. 

"What? Are you afraid? Have you never gone there?"

"Wha- of course not, I was too busy hunting in the marshlands! Besides, animals are my forte. Plants and well... bugs... I'm not too fond of." 

Her friend showed a faint redness on her cheeks as she quietly revealed that last part. 

Ming Yue couldn't help but be a bit surprised at this. 

"Really, bugs?" 

Xuan Yin nodded quickly with widened eyes. 

"Yes! You don't understand! Having to train with my grandfather, we've spent a lot of time hunting out in the wild. Unless you've had dozens of little bugs crawling all over you for days on end, you don't know the half of it!"

She suddenly slapped the table with her hand, looking at her friend with eyes of horror. Ming Yue could see her remembering the memories of her childhood.

The expression on Xuan Yin's face was not of terror but disgust as her body trembled for a moment. 

"Just thinking about it irks me. Those tiny little legs and its shell of a body... Ugh."

She couldn't help but groan just as Ming Yue gave a slightly ridiculing smile. 

"If you really don't like bugs, you would not have enjoyed being with me in Heaven's Gate. I went to a place known as the Ren Huan Battlefield, within it is a garden, one with monstrous bugs. You probably would've fainted at the sight of some of them", she said. 

Xuan Yin revealed an indignant look at her. 

"I wouldn't faint! I would've just destroyed it with my arrows, make sure not even a piece of it was left", she responded, holding onto her bow tightly. 

"Right." 

Ming Yue chuckled before taking her tray and handing the emptied bowls back to the kitchen. 

"I should get going, I will most likely be there for several days. Are you sure you want to come? Sounds like you wouldn't want to be around any bugs we might find." 

The archer nodded. 

"Of course, I said I'm coming with you and I will. I can't leave you alone in a place like that." 

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

She puffed out her chest with confidence before Ming Yue left the canteen and retired for the night. 

The next day started quite early.

Just as the sun had risen, Ming Yue and Xuan Yin met up by the gate. Following them were their pets, Hei Yue, Xiao Yin, and Liao Mao. In total, they were a group of two women, a Star Owl, a Mistral Fox, and a Nightwing Falcon. 

The both of them glanced at their pets, admiring them for a moment. 

"They could probably take on a Rank 5 with just the three of them", said Xuan Yin. 

'Well, we aren't here to hunt, just to gather herbs. I hope your spatial ring has space in it. We won't be leaving until we've filled up both of our rings. Now, let's go." 

Leaving the camp, they headed north, running through a set of woods. There weren't many trees and the ground was somewhat dry and sandy. But as they traveled further north, the number of them grew as it became thicker with florae. 

After a half day's worth of travel, the air took on a slightly sweet scent to which it began to grow stronger and stronger until it had turned to a sickly smell.

Almost intoxicating, in fact. 

"We're here." 

The group stopped and looked around them. 

Compared to the muted hues of a normal forest, the Primeval Forest was a colorful and vibrant sight to see. The tree's leaves were of varying colors, many of them taking on shades of red and orange. But there were few with more unique ones, from a pleasant pink to deep indigo color. 

And that was just the trees. 

The bushes and shrubbery were growing with little berries and fruits, some bright red, others were golden, even silvery. And the flowers added to the flamboyant scene. 

There were all sorts of different types featuring not just solid colors but patterns as well. Swirls, spots, even stripes, and rings, it was certainly a dizzying sight and the smell did not help at all. It was powerful, taking over any other scent, any ordinary person would have lost consciousness if they spent more than a few minutes here. 

But for the two cultivators, all they needed to do was circle their energy and strengthen their bodies. 

And for the three beasts, Ming Yue created a small barrier of wind, pushing away that sweet smell from their noses. Considering they all had sensitive ones, something like this was practically a godsend. 

"Alright then, let's start collecting, shall we?"

From there, Ming Yue took out her dagger and began searching around. In her hands was a small book containing what the previous groups had already found. But should she discover anything new, that had to be brought back. 

On the other side, Xuan Yin was together with the other three beasts, her eyes darted around as she held onto her bow tightly. Along with the sounds of rustling leaves, there would be a faint buzzing or skittering every now and then. Taking a small gulp, she had an arrow ready whilst turning to look at Ming Yue. 

"Something might be coming", she warned her. 

Ming Yue didn't seem to respond, focused more on uprooting all manner of plants and placing it into her ring. If anything it seemed like any normal day for her, picking herbs and exploring the forest. 

And seeing that made the archer feel a bit less nervous, breathing in deeply while muttering to herself. 

"Right, we're not in the inner regions of the Primeval Forest yet. There's no way we'll encounter anything wildly dangerous... I hope."

Just as she thought this, she felt something fall on her head. It felt viscous, slimy, disgusting. With one trembling hand, she touched the top of her head before looking at her fingers. 

It was a clear golden color and had an awfully sweet smell. Moving her fingers around, this slime stretched between them. 

"What is this? Tree sap?"

She looked up to see a green tree above her, the leaves seemed to glitter under the sunlight. After another moment, more of this golden sap fell to the ground, melting into the soil. 

Sensing that something was wrong, Ming Yue turned to find her friend with the sap on her head and hands. Her eyes widened as she immediately rushed forward, taking out a piece of cloth. With it, she wiped it off of her as quickly as possible, glancing around as her friend had a stunned face. 

"What? Is there something wrong with this tree sap?" She asked, "I don't think that it's poisonous or anything. I don't feel any different."

Ming Yue gave her a serious look as she took off as much of the sap as possible. 

"It's just tree sap, it won't kill you but it will attract something that'll do it. What do you think something as sweet-smelling as this will attract?" she answered. 

"O-oh no..."

Understanding quickly, Xuan Yin tried to help, scraping it off with an arrow. Unfortunately, it was too late for them. The buzzing and skittering were gone for a moment before coming back louder and louder. Until something had come, a black cloud moving through the Primeval Forest and Xuan Yin saw it coming for them. 

With the arrow in her hand, she placed it on her bow and pulled back the drawstring, aiming it at this dense black cloud. 

"CARP DRAGON DANCE!"

She couldn't help but scream out as she released the shot, creating a massive fish dragon that tore through the black cloud and rose up into the skies.