Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

She exited her cave and saw the mountain peak exploding in flames. Fire and lava erupted and constantly flowed down the mountain. The sky was black with smoke as if the end of the world was near.

"We have to leave", she thought.

Ming Yue went back into the cave and woke up Hei Yue and Xiao Yin. The both of them were irritated from having their peaceful sleep interrupted, but a loud explosion made them fully alert. The three of them quickly ran out of their cave and escaped down the mountain. All around them, a number of beasts ran away as well. It did not matter if it was friend or foe, they all ran for their lives.

This eruption was the worst one she had seen during her short time here. Eruptions happened daily but this one was on another scale. Ash and flame rained down from the sky, molten rock smashed into the ground destroying any unlucky souls in its impact.

Just to the left of her, a flaming leopard lunged forward, barely dodging a partially melted stone. Not even a second later, it died, decimated by another rock. A gray scaled lizard had its front half crushed in front of her.

Fear coursed through her body after watching that happen, running as fast as she possibly could. Of the three of them, she was the slowest, trailing by a hundred feet. Circling the element of wind, she was much quicker than before barely managing to keep up with Hei Yue. All around her were the sounds of constant explosions as numerous rocks slammed on to the ground. Smoke and ash stung her eyes and burned her throat but she kept on running, there was no time for her to stop and rest.

Until she reached the bottom of the mountain, she was not safe.

A shadow loomed over her as the sound of hooves came crashing down. She took a quick look behind her, finding a group of black horses galloping in her direction. Each and every one them had a metallic horn on their heads and they were gaining on her fast. There were at least thirty to forty of them and there was no way for her to get out of their way.

"I have to get on one of them", she thought.

Left with only one choice, Ming Yue leaped towards them, landing on one and quickly held close to the horse, riding it to safety. None of the horses cared about a human riding one of them, they were too concerned about escape to even spare a glance at her.

With this, she could relax a bit, these horses were very fast and agile. Despite the sheer destruction surrounding them, none of them were hurt or even touched. They evaded every chance of being hit.

After riding for a little bit more, she deemed it safe to get off. She jumped off from the galloping horses, who stopped not long after, watching the mountain. MIng Yue collapsed to the ground, exhausted from that ordeal. Both Hei Yue and Xiao Yin rested on the ground with her, equally tired from escaping. This escape was both exhilarating and terrifying for them. If they did not leave earlier, they would have been buried under lava and rock. Escape would have been near impossible for them to achieve.

Her eyes and throat still stung but she was happy to have survived the eruption.

Unfortunately, this was not the end, for a ear-splitting roar echoed from the mountain she came from. A large crack formed from the top, reaching all the way down to the base of the mountain. From it, a hand made of molten rock came out, followed by another as they grabbed both sides of the mountain and opened it. From this, a giant figure made of fire and stone revealed itself.

"What is this?" she said, "Is that an Ignited Titan?"

A rank 7 beast, born of flame and earth, an Ignited Titan was something that had the potential to destroy cities. A newly born one was the size of a small mountain and only had the strength of a rank 5 beast but as it matures, it would be capable of destroying countries. At its largest, an Ignited Titan could reach up into the clouds. Its hulking body resembled a human but had two extra arms and three horns on its head. An Ignited Titan would take several hundred years to be born, even then waking up required huge amounts of energy.

The titan roared before leaving its birthplace, walking in a random direction. Most likely, it was looking for more energy to feast on. Before it could take another step, a wave of cultivators attacked it, pushing the titan back. Most of them were earth cultivators, most likely trying to kill it for materials and fame. Except for them, all other living creatures had left the mountains, observing from afar.

Ming Yue chose not to join this fight, she was too tired to contribute and she was too far away. There was no point in taking more than she already had. Greed was not a good trait to have. She did not bother watching and left, with the number of cultivators attacking the titan, it was a sure win for them.

After an several hours of battle, her prediction came true. The titan died, crumbling to pieces. As for the ones that killed him, a quarter of them died, burned to ashes by the titan's flames. Some were victim to its molten fists and others died to a fiery breath. There were giant craters everywhere, left by both the Ignited Titan and the cultivators. But the greatest impact was after this battle, for one question was on everyone's mind, Why was it born now?

The Raging Mountains had always been an origin spot for these creatures, having produced Ignited Titans before. However, only one was produced every couple hundred years due to the sheer amount of energy needed. The last one to be born was several thousand years ago, it was believed that the Raging Mountains did not have enough energy to create another. And yet now, one had appeared out of nowhere. This was a very strange event, one that needed careful investigation.

Could it be that someone was behind all this?

Or, was it a sign of dark times to come?

Ming Yue did not know the sheer influence that this event had on Red Lotus Country. She traveled back to the bustling capital and walked straight to the pavilion to turn in her missions. Along the she heard all kinds of news and gossip.

"Did you hear about the Ignited Titan at the Raging Mountains? First one in over a thousand years!"

"Of course I did! Everyone knows about that. People say that something drastic will happen soon. Apparently, a lot has been happening since the tournament. Almost every young genius has gone into closed door training or were sent out for experiential training. Even the emperor's son had left to train. Many of them have already made a name for themselves like Hua Xiong, the successor to the Light of Fury or Jian Bai Hu, Vessel of the Deity"

Taking note of this, Ming Yue had an urge to go back to the Raging Mountains for training. She did not want to fall behind any of them and she wanted to have sufficient strength for the auction. Even if she were to obtain the Splitting Moon Blade, chances were, she would be targeted being just one person. She had around six months before the auction happened and in that time, she needed to strengthen herself.

She reached the Jade Dragon Pavilion to turn in missions, meeting with Zhi Shu. She gained around three thousand contribution points and almost forty thousand gold coins from the three missions. She was about to take on more missions before Zhi Shu stopped her.

"The elder would like to speak with you", she said, "It is very important."

Ming Yue was curious about what Elder Yin wanted to talk about and followed Zhi Shu to her office.