Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"Fast!", the elder thought, "Where did she go?"

Ming Yue's blur of a body suddenly became clear as she stepped behind Yen Fen. Baring her sword, she went for the kill. But it was not going to end so simply, Zuo Er pulled Yen Fen away, evading the strike. Ming Yue stepped back, still focused on Yen Fen.

"What's wrong with her? Didn't she hear my words?" the spear wielding elder was furious that he had been ignored.

"Of course not, her mind is no longer there. Nothing you say will affect her", getting a closer look at at Ming Yue, Zuo Er was able to discern a few things.

Indeed, how could such remarks reach her when she was still like this, controlled by the urge to kill. Seeing this, Zuo Er decided on what to do with her.

"You can always fight her later. But elders, can you restrain her for me? I'm going to use the Shen Shatter Bell on her."

"But Junior Sect Leader, your body? Will it be able to withstand another use?" one of them asked.

"Don't worry about me, just restrain her quickly", Zuo Er ordered.

Thus all of the elders surrounded her, a total of eight Earth Realm cultivators at varying strengths. This left Zuo Er, Yen Fen, and several other lower disciples to guard the unconscious bodies.

Ming Yue had struggled immensely against two Earth Realm cultivators, going against eight was already a lost cause. No matter, how good her skills were, she lacked the benefits of a higher cultivation.

It was a quick battle. There was no way for her to attack and so she could only move defensively. Ultimately, she was pinned to the ground and couldn't move under the force of everyone's grip.

"She has quite the talent."

"Her sword seems very unique. It was be at least peak sage grade."

"This young one might prove to be terrifying in the future."

"Her ability is better than I thought."

All of them could not help but praise her, she might have persisted for a short time but that was impressive for someone at her cultivation. She was able to hold her ground to an extent against 8 experts of a superior cultivation. Not many could achieve such a feat.

Zuo Er walked towards Ming Yue and crouched in front of her. He took out the rusted Shen Shatter Bell and brought it close to her ear.

He shook it softly, producing a much weaker ring. It was not as deep as the one that subdued Senior Qing and the others. Despite the restrained power, the sound went directly into Ming Yue's ear and it shook her from her trance. Her eyes had life in them and the strange thoughts in her mind disappeared. She experienced a moment of clarity.

It was only a moment however.

Her mind had been cleared only for her to experience unbearable pain. The Shen Shatter Bell rang incessantly into her ears. Gritting her teeth, she tried to endure and shake off the bell's effects. But it was all in vain, that mindless trance had left her body and her mind was exhausted, pushed past the limits.

"Aghh! Ughh! Haghhh!" trying to fight back against the pain, Ming Yue could not help but yell in pain.

She could only hold on for so long and just seconds later, her body went limp as she fell unconscious.

"Is she... is it safe now?" Yen Fen asked from afar, somewhat shaken.

Ming Yue's attempt to kill her was far too close. If she wasn't pulled away quick enough, she would have died. Her eyes were fearful and her hands trembled as she stared at Ming Yue.

"Yeah, now let's restrain her and leave quickly! We've wasted too much time."

Zuo Er brought out a pair of stone cuffs for Ming Yue, this was the method he used to restrain the others. Opening the cuffs, he placed her hands within them.

"Ming Yue!"

"Get away from her!"

Arrows tore through the sky and lightning began to flash all around the members of the Tao Feng. Wen Jing rushed forth with a bronze mace, the head of which was engraved with petals. Xuan Han followed after, a golden aura surrounded him as he donned a pair of shining gauntlets. They covered his fists and forearms, resembling the claws of a lion. Dong Kuai's cane shined brightly, the emerald gem that adorned it sharpened and became a short spear.

Lei Jiang arrived with his body already in its draconic state. His arms turned azure as his skin became scale and it spread to his shoulders. A black horn grew from the right side of his head. His eyes widened as the pupils turned beast-like. Since the youth tournament, he has drawn out much more power from that drop of dragon's blood.

Jing Hai had begun building up her energy. Small stars surrounded her, slowly growing brighter and brighter. Her white robes floated under the power she emanated

Lan Huang appeared with another arrow drawn on his bow, lit aflame. He eyed Zuo Er and grinned. On his back, he carried a crimson quiver that still had a dozen or so arrows.

"Bastard, don't think you can leave after what you did to me!" he laughed out loud and let off the arrow.

He aimed it up high and let it soar through the air. As it flew up, the arrow shook and glowed before it exploded showering Zuo Er and the elders in flame and ash.

Catching them by surprise, all of them attacked leaving none of the Tao Feng any time to think.

"Screw this!" the remaining disciples lost their will to fight and ran, leaving captured Senior Qing and the other experts on the ground.

Only Yen Fen stayed behind, she could not leave Zuo Er like this.

"Fight back! We outnumber them!" he yelled out and everyone quickly recovered.

The two sides collided and the fight descended into chaos. All manner of attacks destroyed the area around them, Zuo Er did not dare to use the Shen Shatter Bell again. His arm had already been rendered useless by its power. Any more would leave permanent damage to his body.

"Fight me! I will show you why I am the Punishment Elder!" Xuan Han yelled out.

He slammed his fist into the fat elder's body and sent him flying. His golden aura had formed a lion's head that roared angrily. After sending the elder off, he chased after until the elder wielding the hooked chain attacked. Xuan Han noticed the approaching weapon and grabbed it out of the air. With the weapon in his grasp, he yanked the chain down and slammed that elder into the ground. The former battled against Fu Men while the latter attacked Qiu Bing.

"I will not be restrained by any of you!" he screamed out as his power rose.

The three elders that fought against Du Hua and Vice Leader Lu were besieged by Wen Jing and Jing Hai. Wen Jing's mace hummed and she spun it in her hand before slamming it onto the fully armored elder. Despite the difference in equipment, Wen Jing had the upper hand. The other two elders, one that wielded a glaive and another that used a fan, were in fact suppressed by Jing Hai. Due to her unique dao and techniques, she was able to overpower them but maintaining this level of strength strained her body. The stars behind her floated about before attacking the two elders. They exploded on impact, creating an almost blinding light.

"Can you survive against my Budding Stars? I wonder how many it will take before your body is torn apart" she said.

Dong Kuai and Lan Huang took on the spear wielding elder and another that wore a glowing blue hair pin. She was the one that fought against Qiu Bing whilst the other had battled against Fu Men.

"Come one you! Let's see how good you are with that spear!" Dong Kuai laughed loudly.

Despite being the Medicinal Elder, she was quite terrifying in battle.

In the middle of this chaos, Zuo Er and Yen Fen quickly began to gather the unconscious captives and started to escape. But they could not escape Lan Huang's eyes.

"Do you think I wouldn't notice!" he said, drawing an arrow from his quiver.

This was different from the other special arrows he had, this one was much larger and the arrowhead had six heads combined. It was like he merged six arrows into one. He pulled the bow string back and let it loose.

The arrow whistled through the air, aimed straight for Zuo Er's head.