Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Chapter 61 - Danger Zone

Another day passed before she finally left the forest, on her way to the last destination, the Raging Mountains. She followed a long, winding road, seeing several mountains from afar after a week of travel. One or two of them had smoke billowing from the mountain peaks. The air was somewhat grayish in color due to the constant smoke. The smell of fire and ash entered her nose, causing her to wrinkle her nose.

"That must be the Raging Mountains", she thought, quickening her pace.

The Raging Mountains was not quite considered to be extremely dangerous and fell under the category of a pseudo-danger zone. This mission of hers required a bronze bull rank, something she already had. But the Raging Mountains was a place where one had to be at least in the Earth Realm to have a chance of surviving. Of course, despite being of the human realm, she had to ability to contend with those at the Earth Realm but winning against them would require a miracle. Thankfully, the Dragon Whisker Berries could be found in the outskirts of the Raging Mountains, there was no need to travel further into them.

Arriving at the mountains, she noticed other cultivators scattered throughout the area. Similar to her, they were exploring the mountains for treasures. Reaching the base of the mountains, she started looking for the berries. Rumbling sounds echoed through the area, originating from the mountain summits. At first, it was low and weak but as time went on, it grew stronger, loud enough to be heard through all the mountains.

Soon enough, a rumble and crack resounded within the zone as one of the mountains erupted! Flame and smoke danced through the air as lava spewed from the peak, it ran down the sides of the mountains. Everyone had already evacuated but were eager to go back, with every eruption came a new wave of rare materials.

Ming Yue was not among this group for she was at another mountain, searching for the Dragon Whisker Berries. She needed to collect twelve of them and had only found three, which is quite lucky of her. Usually it takes about a week to find one but she managed to find three. With the help of Hei Yue and Xiao Yin, finding these berries were not as difficult.

"At this rate, I might finish in another month", she smiled quite happy with her progress.

Almost a week later, she found had a bush with six berries. However, it was being guarded an armored pig or rather a boar. Recognizing it as a rank 3, Molten Boar, its body was covered in rocks forming patterns all over its body, glowing a reddish orange. With two short tusks and a large body, it was a tough beast that could survive being bathed in lava. Asleep, it rested by the bush, waiting for its treasure to mature.

Ming Yue silently moved around it, walking past its snoring body. Slowly, she plucked the berries one by one, carefully trying not to awaken it. But luck was not on her side, on the sixth and last berry, the Molten Boar stirred, waking from its slumber. With no time to waste, she quickly took the berry and ran off as quickly as possible. The boar, somewhat lethargic noticed its bush, empty of its treasure and woke up fully. Roaring in anger, it saw Ming Yue running away and chased after her.

The boar quickly caught up with her, readying its tusks to rip her apart. Ming Yue did not let this happen, she leaped out of the way, avoiding the boar and ran behind it. Taking out her sword, she jumped on the back of the boar and started attacking it. If it was any other normal sword, the blade would've broken in pieces. However, the Parting Sun Blade broke off pieces of the thick armor, slowly revealing the skin of the boar. Creating a small hole, she stabbed the sword right into it, causing the boar to scream in pain. Still holding the sword, she twisted it around before moving it in different directions. She noticed that the boar would turn in whatever direction she moved the handle. A very dangerous idea began to form in her head and she directed the Molten Boar deeper into the mountains. This was a chance for her to explore the inner regions and possibly find some rarer materials. She had plenty of time to complete the mission, she should take this opportunity to see what interesting treasures awaited her.

Ming Yue passed by several people, stunned by the sight of a girl riding a giant boar rushing past them.

"I-is that girl riding a Molten Boar up the mountain?" one of them asked with disbelief, tempted to pinch his cheek.

Finding a little area, she used the boar to clear it of any enemies, of course this meant charging at them and turning their bodies into mush. With its purpose fulfilled, she took the sword out of its wound and killed it. It was already weak and tired from Ming Yue's forceful use, dying from a swift cut of the neck. Then she proceeded to skin it along with any other beasts that she killed on the way and collect all of the sellable material. Her first ring was already full of things and so she moved on to filling up one of the spatial rings she took from that hidden room.

Afterwards, she surveyed the area before walking around. It could be said that she traveled up to the middle of the mountains, between the base and the peak.

"Hmm I wonder what this area might have", she thought.

The middle regions of the mountains contained rank 3 and rank 4 monsters and area that could very well be her grave. As long as she moved with a bit of caution, the chances of running into one of them was low.

With no immediate danger around, Ming Yue began filling up her second ring with any items that looked interesting. Some she recognized but there were many others that were unknown to her. She found a flower that emitted heat from its petals, shining brightly like the sun. There was a golden ore to the left of it filled with lightning, gray grass surrounded by the aura of death. Among numerous things, she even found another bush of Dragon Whisker Berries, enough to fill small basket. Even Hei Yue and Xiao Yin did a bit of treasure hunting, occasionally finding something that they liked and eating it.

Being in such a dangerous area meant that there were less people to claim its treasures. But whether or not her decision was correct will depend on once she leaves or rather, if she leaves.

Ming Yue found a small cave to rest in and started going over her spoils. Her second ring was almost full and it had about twice the amount of space as the first ring. Numerous herbs and ores littered all over the ground as she began reorganizing. Her first ring held only her belongings and beast materials while the second contained all of the little treasures she found on the mountain.

Feeling tired, she traveled deeper into the cave to make sure that there was no one else but her. Afterwards, she started covering up the cave entrance, making it as hidden as she possibly could. She did not want to have any unwanted visitors coming in. Covering with rocks, a cool breeze brushed against her body. She entered the cave through a little hole she made in the camouflage. Surrounded by warmth, emanating from within the mountain, she found a comfortable spot and turned in for the night.

Her sleep was interrupted by some loud rumbling. She rubbed her eyes, still recovering from her lethargic state before a loud boom shook her awake.

"What's going on?" she looked around her cave, finding her pets still fast asleep.