Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"You...You...You have Parting Sun as well?!" Li Gang said each word with an increasing amount of shock and disbelief.

"This...this...is this fate?!" he said, talking to himself. He began muttering to himself like a madman.

Ming Yue was not expecting him to react like this. Although she knew that these swords had great importance, she did not think that Li Gang would give such a reaction to her.

"Will you come with me to Rong Lu City? I must take this to the Forgelord and talk with him" Li Gang said.

She agreed quite easily to his request, she did want to go and see what a city for crafters was like. She quickly made preparations to depart, speaking with Elder Yin as well as the Yu siblings before taking one last look at through the General Auction.

"Going so fast? You've only been here for a few weeks!" Yao Xian said, "I haven't even showed you my favorite restaurants. Fengtian hasn't even showed you his sword in action."

"I know but I really want to go to Rong Lu City. I'll still be here for the rest of the General Auction", Ming Yue replied.

With a little less than 100,000 gold, she purchased some medicinal pills and cultivation pills.

Bone Mending Pills and Blood Wheel Pills for injuries and emergencies as well as two Three Thought Pills for cultivation. All of which costed her sixty thousand gold and left her with around thirty thousand. The two sibling accompanied her, eating and talking happily. Ming Yue was a wanderer, the both of them understood that and did their best give her a good time.

At the end of the day, Fengtian did the unexpected, he confessed to her in a somewhat empty part of the Capital city. They walked into a garden of sorts before Fengtian spoke out.

"I-I do not know what these feelings may be", he said, "Love, infatuation, obsession, I can only think of you and no other woman. Ever since I met you, I have always had you in my eyes. Your courage and your softness have captured me. Even though I know that you will not return these feelings to me, I want you to know that...I love you."

His cute appearance only added more power to his confession. If it were any other girl they would have fallen for him in an instant.

But Ming Yue was not one of them, she was shocked for sure but she could only respond honestly.

"You are a great person and these feelings are something that I cannot accept. This is something I am inexperienced in and I do not plan on finding a partner", she said.

"Perhaps in time, your love will fade and you will find another. I'm sorry."

Fengtian felt somewhat bittersweet. He was able to confess and he had expected this response but to hear it in person was so much harder to accept. After this day, Ming Yue would leave the Capital for Rong Lu City and no one knew when she would come back. Yao Xian looked from afar, saddened that Ming Yue did not return Fengtian's feelings but she could do nothing. After all, Fengtian had wanted her to stay out of it.

"Maybe...maybe", he muttered. The final day of the auction ended quietly. Stores and stalls closed up for the night. The streets were cleared and cleaned. Everyone went home, some happier than others and others sadder than some.

Ming Yue did not feel right declining his confession but she could do nothing. With no experience and no real interest in love and romance, she had no reason to accept. A lover was the least important thing in her mind and Fengtian was more of a friend than anything else.

With her preparations done, she met up with Li Gang the next day and they walked to the northern areas of capital city. There she saw magnificent ships made of wood and metal floating in the sky. She never quite paid attention to the other parts of the city and did not realize that this was a skyport!

For journeys that could take months or even years will be no more than a week on these ships. They looked like any ship found in the sea but the hull of the ship was engraved and multiples stones were embedded into them. They glowed brightly and pulsed with power, running through the engravings. These formations were what kept these ships afloat and they were different from what Ming Yue had seen. They were not natural, there were no curves but rigid lines branching off.

She looked in awe and astonishment.

"Amazing isn't it?" Li Gang said, "There are gems in nature that are so full of energy. We humans could not use it for ourselves but have found ways to harness it. From weapon sockets to powering great contraptions, although we cannot compare to ancient techniques, we have come far. I have already purchased our tickets, come with me."

They walked into one of the skyports, a fairly large building that was quite fancy. A number of decor on the walls referenced the sea and ships, carvings of fish and sculptures of aquatic legends like sea dragons and great sharks.

Li Gang walked up to the counter where he showed the attendant the tickets and they were led into the ship.

Ming Yue had never seen something quite like this and examined everything she passed by. The ship they took was one of the largest and looked more like a hotel than an actual ship inside. It had around one hundred rooms and a large viewing deck for its guests. Many other guests were merchants and nobles all of whom wanted to travel to Rong Lu City.

Li Gang and Ming Yue were in separate rooms but next to each other. During this time, she asked him many questions regarding the swords such as repair and refinement.

She herself had no talent in such things but she was quite curious in these processes. he explained quite briefly the many parts to weapon making.

"The most important part to making any weapon is the usage of one's inner force. Each hit from a hammer or stitch from a needle can infuse some of the crafter's force into the sword. Depending on how it is infused, you can potentially affect the quality of the item. Specific materials also play a role with the stronger ones obviously improving the quality. Of these materials is the core, usually gems but it must contain some element. The core of a sword is what can bring it to the next level. A fire type gem can increase the power of a fire technique, the same goes for any other element."

"Can I see Parting Sun?" he asked.

Ming Yue passed him her sheathed blade and he examined it.

"The craftsmanship is quite good. If one were to see it for the first time, they would not guess that this "walking stick" was a sword. While the blade is untouched, the guard and the handle has been altered to compliment your size. If you did not notice, the one who made the sheath and redid the handle infused some of his own energy into them. However this sword did not have a socket for a gem unlike Splitting Moon and Parting Sun was focused on extreme sharpness", said Li Gang.

He continued to look at the sword and sheath, commenting on Tie Di's work. The old blacksmith from Luan City was skilled and spent a fair bit of effort to make the sword easier for her to handle. Afterwards, he examined the broken pieces of Splitting Moon and sighed minutes later.

"Repairing it is beyond me but the Forgelord may be able to fix it", he said, "The structure is in shambles and repairing would most likely mean melting it down and making an entirely new sword."

"I see", Ming Yue replied, the process of forging and crafting was a meticulous one. Even though Li Gang tried to make his explanations brief, they were long and filled with information.

All of the sudden, they heard yelling from the deck.

"Pirates! Pirates are coming!"