Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

The coming days was mostly her preparing to leave once more. One of the first things she did was go to the Contribution Hall and go to the exchange counter to make some purchases. It was mostly some medicinal pills and other supplies for the journey. 

"Ah Ming Yue, you\'ve arrived! Are you here to spend your contribution points?"

As a frequent visitor to the exchange hall, the administrator recognized her immediately and spoke in a friendly tone. She nodded and made her request to which the administrator raised a brow. 

"Are your sure about this?" he asked, showing her the amount of points that she had. 

"Wha-what?! 132,810 contribution points... Wasn\'t it only around 45,000 points?"

Ming Yue was surprised by the amount of points and didn\'t quite understand where it came from. 

"Hm? What do you mean? You bet a thousand points on yourself and succeeded! Out of everyone here, you were one of the biggest winners because of your victory. Don\'t tell me that you forgot about that?"

With the administrator\'s explanation, Ming Yue could not help but let out a helpless smile as she had mostly forgotten of her little bet. 

"With this amount, there\'s quite a lot that you can obtain."

The administrator spoke with a smile before opening a large catalog of items and handing it over to her. 

"These items here cost around a hundred thousand contribution points. Here, take a look."

Caught in the flow, she took it and looked it over. There were about a hundred or so items to look at and she did so with some interest. WIth that amount of points, she might as well use it. But there wasn\'t much that she needed. 

But she inspected herself and her equipment before making a decision. 

"While I don\'t need a new sword, I might need a new dagger and perhaps better clothing."

This much was true. Out of everything she had, the dagger, and her robes and slippers were beginning to lag behind. It was especially apparent when compared to Drifting Sky, a peak-divine grade weapon. The dagger was a reward for her actions with Luan City, where she and many others fought a beast horde to defend. Her clothes were one of the first things she bought when she reached the city. 

The fact that they were both at the mortal grade, the difference was staggering. Ming Yue took out her dagger and inspected it before looking at her hanfu. 

"I really do need a replacement for them both. They might not last much longer."

The dagger, created from the tusk of a rank 3 beast, showed wear and tear, losing its luster and containing small fractures. Her clothes on the other hand looked good as new from its ability to self-repair but it could only do so much. With every battle, the repairs took longer and longer, and its defense was lacking as she fought against stronger opponents. 

"With these items, I can only choose one to change. I should go for something more reasonable."

She turned a few pages over scanning items that ranged in the tens of thousands. Looking over her choices, she found a few items that interested her before making her decision. 

"I\'ll have these."

Walking over to the administrator, she chose two items to exchange. 

"Mmm, interesting choices, the Pearlstone Dagger and the Changing Clouds Armor. Let\'s see here, that is about 120,000 points in total. Hand me your medallion and your items will be sent to your room."

With that the exchange was made and Ming Yue made a few other minor purchases and finished her business. 

"I should go tell the elders about my departure as well. Elder Xiang still has to teach me his "perfect technique as well."

Hei Yue and Xiao Yin followed after her as she moved from one elder to the other. Strangely enough, their meetings were quick. She found that something was amiss but did not ask. 

While Elder Shen said a simple farewell while reading his book, Elder Hua did so with a strange smile as she tended to multiple bubbling pots of medicine. Out of the three elders, Elder Xiang acted the strangest. 

She did not find him laying around and drinking some wine. Instead, he was practicing in the arena. In his hand was a sword, a beautiful blade that was neither too long nor too short, too wide or too thin. 

There was little decor or engraving on it except for the patterned leather handle and the mark of the symbol for Jian near the base of the blade. A double edged sword made with care and precision and in the Elder\'s hands, it was nothing more than a blade. 

Elder Xiang barely moved from his position, attacking neither too fast nor too slow but with control and accuracy. 

Ming Yue watched and could not seem to understand it. She could see every attack but when it came to dodging or parrying them, such a thing seemed impossible. Studying it even further, she managed to catch a glimpse of some strange energy that encased the sword before it vanished and Elder Xiang sheathed it. 

"Hm, girl, so you\'ve come for the "perfect technique" haven\'t you?" 

He spoke as he walked down the arena, taking a chair and a gourd of wine out of nowhere. He sat down and took a swig before looking at her. She looked at him blankly before speaking.

"Well, I did obtain first place."

Elder Xiang chuckled before taking another drink from his gourd and putting it away. Standing up, he took out a wooden sword from his spatial ring and took his stance. 

"Then have a good look, I\'m going to show you this only once." 

He built up his power, allowing none of it to leak from his body. Pointing the sword at Ming Yue, he took a step forward and attacked. 

It was a simple attack, like the ones he made on the arena but less than a second later, Ming Yue immediately dodged. But the sword followed her and before she knew it, the edge of it touched her neck. 

Elder Xiang smiled before putting the sword away. 

"Whether or not you understand it is up to you, now go. You must have some things to take care of but so do I. It will be a while before I return and when I do, I shall see how much you\'ve comprehended from that."

In her heart-thumping state, he shooed Ming Yue off, sending her back to her room. Turning back, Elder Xiang shut the doors closed and took out his sword. 

"Such a thing might not even happen."

Contrary to his slovenly appearance, his expression was serious and different. He gave off a rather ominous a grim aura as he continued his practice. 

As for Ming Yue, she returned with her beastly companions with a distraught expression.

"What kind of attack that? How does it even work?"

She simply could not comprehend the attack and tried her best to understand it. It was terrifying, a simple attack that gave off a feeling of no escape. Palpable fear rose up in her heart when she recalled it. Try as she might, replaying the attack in her head did little but the experience was ingrained. 

Slowly, she calmed down and refocused, returning to her main goal.

"I should leave for Red Lotus Country before I do anything else. I could take a sky ship from here to there..."

Plotting her course, Ming Yue found the items she purchased waiting by her bed. There were a few medicinal pills, some herbs and other supplies, and there was her new equipment: the Pearlstone Dagger and the Changing Clouds Armor. 

Donning her new equipment, she looked at her old ivory dagger and her Floating Breeze Robes and Slippers. From the beginning, she had used them to their fullest and now, she could retire them. 

"I should get going now."