Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Peeking through, their eyes fell upon the strangest of things, something that neither of them had ever seen before. Something that they would have never dreamed truly existed.

Small beings with rather round and cute bodies. Bits of wood and leaves sprouted from their bodies. They had wings on their back that looked like butterfly wings. Their limbs were a bit short and stubby as well as their large, dark green eyes. 

Emerald light radiated from their bodies and it exuded a calming aura. 

They fluttered about, going from one flower to another, bush to bush, tree to tree. They wandered about plucking and eating from them. 

"Fairies?" Xuan Yin whispered. 

Ming Yue didn't say a word, the both of them were wide-eyed as they watched these little sprites practically frolic about. 

Suddenly, they all stopped, looking around, sniffing the air even. As if drawn by something, they all moved towards one direction, the direction of Ming Yue and the others. 

"They coming towards us!" 

Xuan Yin's whispers were still quite loud and unfortunately, the fairies heard her voice. She and Ming Yue heard the fluttering of wings as the emerald light dimmed and vanished. Moments later, they looked through to find no sign of these fairies. 

After waiting a bit more, the both of them stood up and walked into the small clearing. They scanned the area but found nothing. There were only some half-eaten berries and leaves, which left them stupefied for a moment. 

"Are they fairies? Are they something else? What could they even be?"

Xuan Yin muttered under her breath wildly, still unable to believe what she had seen. Ming Yue was the same as well. Sure they had seen great beasts and powerful demons, even something as grand as the Idol of Chaos. But all of them were big, this was the first time any of them as seen something like those things. 

It was simply different from what they were used to. Rather than wild and aggressive, these fairies were peaceful and quiet. In other words, they were harmless. 

After a few more moments, they slowly calmed down and looked at each other once more. 

"Why did they come to us?" Ming Yue asked. 

Xuan Yin could only shrug in confusion. 

"I don't know. I don't even know what they are", she answered. 

Soon enough, the sun began to rise, ebbing over the horizon and illuminating the Primeval Forests. 

"We should get going, Xuan Yin. Maybe we'll come across them again."

"I certainly hope so. I wonder if we can talk to them. Oh, I wonder if they're watching us right now?" 

Xuan Yin gave her surroundings another look, her eyes went from the ground up as she followed her friend deeper into the forest.

As they left, dozens of round green eyes peeked from the shadows of the bushes. These little fairies watched the pair leave before disappearing. Perhaps, they were following them, lured by whatever had attracted them in the first place. 

As the day came and went, Ming Yue gathered as much as she could, looking out for anything that was rare. 

Some of them led to a few dangerous encounters with the denizens of these forests. And the deeper they went, the more dangerous it became. 

The last of these encounters was a monstrous tree that could move, this was by far the most dangerous fight they had in this forest. 

Whilst searching around, Ming Yue noticed a faint glow from afar. Even under the waning sun's rays, it stood out.

As she walked made her way towards the glow, the source of it was revealed. 

A small tree whose leaves were of a pale pink color and bore fruits of the same color. Of course, what set it apart was the glow that came out of it, a much brighter pink hue coupled with an earthy sweet smell. The fruit resembled that of peaches but its skin was shimmering and bright. 

"That's the Heaven's Peach Tree", she muttered. 

"What?" 

Xuan Yin looked at her before turning towards the direction her friend was looking at, noticing the tree from afar.

"That's called the Heaven's Peach Tree? Must be really important if you stopped to look", she said. 

Ming Yue opened up the notes given to her but the medicine masters of the camp. 

"The peaches from this tree have several incredible effects. Apart from healing your internal injuries, it can make you look younger. It is also helpful for one's cultivation and keeps one's heart calm. But the main reason why it's called Heaven's Peach Tree is because eating a single peach can also grant you a ten-year increase in lifespan. And the older the peach, the stronger that effect is", she read. 

"It can increase your life span by ten years? Or even more?! What kind of tree is this? How did they even find out about it?"

Xuan Yin asked with an incredulous face.

After all, items that could increase a person's lifespan were all incredible. Even ones that granted an extra year required an enormous amount of resources, much less one that could give ten. 

Ming Yue continued reading through. 

"During one expedition, the group was able to enter the depths of the forest and came across this peach tree. Filled with exhaustion, they plucked a peach and shared it amongst twenty of them. The effect took mere seconds and in excitement, they plucked another one before its guardian came, a massive-"

At that moment, they heard a cracking sound echoing through the forest and their heads whipped up to the peach tree. But it wasn't the peach tree that made those noises, it was in fact the tree behind it. 

Because they had been captivated by the peach tree, neither of them noticed the massive one behind it. Splinters flew out as the tree slowly uprooted itself as the trunk shifted around, revealing two glowing green eyes. 

"A Viridescent Treant..." Ming Yue muttered. 

Rising out of the ground, its roots wrapped around each other and formed two legs. many of the branches above lost their leaves as they lowered and became arms. It towered over the peach tree, standing at a height several times the size of a normal man. 

Finally out of the ground, the Viridescent Treant knelt down and looked at the peach tree, counting the peaches with its eyes. 

The pair watched from a safe distance, close enough for them to see but far enough that the Treant wouldn't notice it. Ming Yue looked at the notes a bit more. 

"From the descriptions given, it is at least a Rank 8, certainly capable of destroying the camp."

After hearing that, Xuan Yin gave her a look. 

"We're not going to fight it right?" she asked. 

Ming Yue shook her head. 

"We're just going to wait and sneak in for some of the peaches", she answered bluntly to which Xuan Yin's expression dropped. 

"Are you serious? I know how heaven-defying those peaches are but you can't be serious. That thing is Rank 8! A Rank 6, I could understand but that's Rank 8!" she retorted. 

Ming Yue sucked in a cold breath as she kept her expression determined. 

"Even so, I'll do it. You will never know when those peaches are needed. Each one of them is probably worth more than a Rank 5. The entire tree in of itself can be considered legendary! The fact that we've come across it is an opportunity we can't ignore", she reasoned. 

Her friend looked at her, glancing at her eyes before sighing. 

"Fine, but we have to be extremely careful. If anything goes wrong, we have to run", she warned. 

Ming Yue nodded. 

"Agreed." 

And so, they waited for the Viridescent Treant, watching it circle around the peach tree. Every now and then, it would look up to gaze at its surroundings. But it spent much of it's time admiring the peaches. 

As night came, it returned to its place, going back into the ground.