Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Chapter 257 - Meeting Again

Those victim to her poison were met with a quick end. Of course, it was not lethal poison but the vials within her spear transformed her poison into gas. All who breathed it in felt their lungs burn and found it incredibly painful to breath. The sight of this made everyone fearful of her. The excrutating pain brought on by her poison was a thing of terror.

Unfortunately, this also made Anqing an important target and as someone who isn't very combat oriented, she was sent out quite quickly.

In her final moments, her split the spear apart, releasing a noxious gas cloud that no one on the opposing team could have avoided. But several disciples were users of the Wind Dao and it took them a few seconds to disperse it.

At the end of it, while she did manage to incapacitate a number of people, it was not a lethal strike and so they were not sent out like her. She did give her team an advantage but it was not enough for their Inheritor had been surrounded and eliminated quickly. A loss of power like that could never be recovered from.

Then the sixth rotation came and passed, ending the first set with three more sets to go.

The second set was much more refined and less chaotic then the first set as everyone had a general idea how to work with each other.

Xukun alone was able to take on more than one opponent. Furthermore, his versatile skills made him excellent in attacking, defending, and supporting. Like this, he followed the inheritor, a Fire Dao user who wielded the sword and shield, covering his back and attacking for him when needed. Their skills complimented each other for the Inheritor usually strengthened himself with fire, nearly becoming a ball of fire that charged anywhere he pleased. Xukun only furthered the Inheritor's freedom to attack. With the white sword split into three, he could cage people and shut them down, making them easy targets for the Inheritor.

Their second battle was an easy victory. It was difficult to eliminate the Inheritor with Xukun with him and vice versa.

The opposing team's inheritor was young man with long hair, wielding a sword whose blade was shaped like a needle. It could not cut but it could pierce and his attacks were faster than the eyes could see. He used the Thunder Dao, a compliment to his quick strikes. He would send lightning javelins with each thrust, piercing through the enemy.

This might have been a victory for him if not for the three white swords that had took him off guard. Even with his quick attacks, three swords was enough to fight all of his moves. The fire ball that was the Xukun's Inheritor, rammed into the long haired man who was thrown out after the fire had coalesced into a fearsome and fiery bull.

If Xukun's battle was such a simple victory, Ming Yue's was even simpler.

That first battle showed Ming Yue's group that both her and Yin Zhu were extremely fast and quite suited for quick eliminations. In the first few seconds of battle, the pair worked together to get rid of as many of the opposing team as they could.

Using Zephyr Claws, Whistle Wind, and Reaping Blade, made her as fearsome as Yin Zhu, who attacked by appearing from the shadows. Ming Yue left nothing but an illusion in her wake, stabbing in the back, ripping the neck with her Zephyr Claws, attacking with the knife-like winds of her Whistle Wind. Reaping Blade was very similar to Phantasmal Wind, but had two different purposes. The former needed one to diminish her presence. Furthermore, she had to block her senses and focus on ntohing but the target. It was a testament to her Sword Dao and relied on nothing but the Sword Dao.

Because of these two, the battle ended in a minute with the elimination of half the group before they even realized anything. By then the strength in numbers was apparent and under Wenqin Yan, they swept the arena with ease.

As for Anqing, her second battle ended in a victory.

Though she was not as combat oriented as the other two, her poison made up for it. Her team worked their strategies around the use of her poison, taking advantage of its effects. With her focus on the Poison Dao, she revealed more about her techniques as well as the various non-leathal poison that she had.

With her Poison Body reaching a perfect state, she now had control over all of the poison as it was created from her blood. Rather than a gaseous cloud like before, she controlled it with the motions of her spear, transforming the magenta colored poison into snakes that slithered through the arena floor.

Everyone else took to defending her as these poisonous snakes had forced the opposing team back. The pressure she exerted on the arena truly fearsome.

At the end of the second set, there was now a clearer divison between the squads with a majority of them having one victory and one loss. The rest either stood at the top with two victories or fell to the bottom with two losses.

That marked the end of the fourth round. At this time, it was noon and the viewers took a small break, either to stretch or have a quick meal. But for the teams, this meant even more time to strategize and perhaps improve their actions.

Then the fifth round began and the first set proceeded with a victory for both Anqing and Ming Yue and a loss for Xukun.

His loss came at the beginning of the match where the team targetted and eliminated him quickly. It also did not help that one of the disciples practiced the Dao of Music, playing the flute and producing melodies influenced the minds of Xukun's team. It caused confusion that ended in their downfall.

Anqing's control over poison had caused her presence in battle to skyrocket as the opposing team tried their best to avoid these magenta colored snakes. Furthermore, she even revealed the other poisons she had which caused paralysis and hallucinations. These were certainly trump cards that changed the course of the fight, leading to her victory.

Ming Yue's victory came the same way it did previously, only quicker. Wenqin Yan as well as a few others used several techniques that slowed down the enemy and restricted their movement. In their state, the opposing team became easy pickings for the duo, who had a tacit understanding of each other.

Then came the second and final set of the fifth round.

Xukun won this time around as did Anqing, placing their respective groups in the upper echelons with three victories and a loss. Xukun's uniques skill-set allowed him to work well with the team while Anqing was one of the few cultivators who practiced the Poison Dao. Furthmore, her physique being that of a Poison Body made her much more powerful. The former was versatile while the latter could influence the entire battle.

Both had fought in the second rotation, leaving Ming Yue the last one to fight.

Her battle started at the fifth rotation and it would be a spectacular one at that. Furthermore, it was something looked forward to as the opposing team had someone she was waiting to fight.

Standing there with his Jade Emperor Saber, Li Baojun looked at Min Yue's team with a smug look on his face. But then, there was slight chill on his neck, a stare piercing his body. He looked aorund but could not pinpoint where exactly it came from. Ming Yue was nearly hidden behind her team so she could not be found.

"Let me take control here."

Ming Yue could feel her mind slip a little as Xue Yue wanted control.

"What, why?" she replied, feeling surprised and annoyed by Xue Yue's intrusion.

"Because, you will just end it quickly. Li Baojun needs to suffer a bit. He ran so quickly at the Ren Huan Battlefield but he won't be running away this time."

She spoke with a playful tone, though her words were less than that.

"What? No, I can't have you do that."

Ming Yue wasn't going to let it happen. After all, she did not want to risk losing her body permanently.

"Why are you scared? You are at the top and I'm am at the bottom. Even if I take control, you could force me out in the end.. Besides, I've returned your body before, so trust me."