Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Chapter 98 - Bloody Plains

He looked at them.

"Well now, what is it girl?" he asked, "Want to go see the Bloody Plains?"

Ming Yue nodded.

"You can find it west of Rong Lu City, in the Guang Yang Kingdom. You will know if you've reached the plains when you start encountering blood fiends and the ground is a dyed a deep red" he explained patiently, ending woth a little smile.

Turning towards the Six Pillars, his expression changed becoming stern with a tiny bit of annoyance.

"Let me guess, all six of you want to go as well", they nodded quickly in response, unable to restrain their excitement.

His eyes squinted, staring into their very soul.

"Go then, I expect a gift from all of you", he answers, turning his stern expression into a smile.

"Yes Forgelord! We will deliver!" all six of them ran off after saying those words, preparing to make the journey.

"Heh, those bastards" he turned around and picked up the stool, patting it clean.

"If you are going to go to the Bloody Plains, I will have to warn you. It is quite a treacherous place. In order to hone your skills and comprehensions, you must seek out the Sanguine Wraiths, lingering souls that are bound by the land. They are not easy opponents but considering your skill, I think that you'd stand a decent chance. However, these wraiths have different levels of ability, do not overestimate yourself", he added.

Ming Yue gave it a bit of thought before making up her mind, she would go join. She still had one more of those cultivation pills and wanted to take this chance to gain some accumulations. Leaving his courtyard, Xuan Yin met up with her and had also been thinking of checking out the Bai Yan Plains.

The both of them planned to leave the city in several days. Groups were already beginning to form as more and more cultivators entered the city. Every one of them had chosen to leave at a similar time.

In total, there were several hundred cultivators, wanderers, sect disciples, etc. Well known figures from other countries had also come to the city. There was also a familiar face as well, Qing Lei Jiang, the emperor's son was also there, surrounded by his comrades. After not seeing him for so long, he had become much more stronger.

Being genius and having access to numerous treasures, his cultivation was definitely within the Earth Realm. In a duel, her chance of victory was not great, possibly twenty percent. His two halberd were noticeably different, much more striking and sharper. The design was a bit more extravagant, the pattern of lightning was present on the moon shaped blade.

Outside of this group were several other eye-catching ones, there were a group of seven female cultivators that used the sword. Each one of them had a degree of grace and beauty, turning a number of heads around. Judging by their clothes which were white robes with lavender embroidery, they must've been part of the same sect. Another group had 6 members, a haughty young master and his servant followed by 4 guards, he walked around arrogantly while his men were busy carrying his things.

Not even seconds passed before he began to drum up trouble and with none other than the seven women too! The servant quickly ran up and cautioned him, warning that it is not a good idea to approach others with such arrogance. However, this young master would not hear it, brushing him off and walked up to the female cultivators.

"Ah, such beauty, it is rare to find seven women, each more graceful than the last in one place. Tell me what brings you all to a city like this?" he asked.

His question was met with silence and cold stares, but he was not deterred and made a second attempt.

"Would it be fine if I accompany you?" he goes, smiling at one of them.

Finally, one of them answered. Her hair was tied up into a long braid and she had beautiful blue eyes. She faced him before giving a curt bow.

"We apologize but we seven are here to train under the instructions of our teacher. We do not have the time to play with someone who does nothing but play", she spoke in a very sweet tone, almost as if she were speaking to a child.

Afterwards, she went back to her group, ignoring his existence. The young man was nothing more than shocked by her reply and very soon that shock was replaced by anger and resentment. Right when he was about to say one more word, the servant pulled him back and stopped him from speaking.

"Do you know who you're talking too?" he said, "They are disciples of Clear Spring Mountain, angering them would mean bringing trouble to the family. You're lucky that one of the guards recognized them or else, your father would punish you and kill us all."

The young master quickly shut his mouth.

"Clear Spring Mountain? But that sect is in the east where the Clear Sky Kingdom is!" he thought, "Why would they travel for the Bloody Plains?"

Ming Yue was close enough to hear the conversation, she had been spending these past days exploring the city. She just so happened to be within the area, perusing the wares of a peddler.

"Clear Spring Mountain?" she thought, "Must be a really prominent sect."

Qing Lei Jiang must have also heard the conversation for he approached the Clear Spring Mountain disciples, cupping his fists and bowing in respect. Unlike with the young master, they had noticed him and faced his direction.

"Greetings, my name is Qing Lei Jiang, prince of Red Lotus Country. I have long heard of the illustrious name of Clear Spring Mountain and had chance to visit before", he said.

"Of course Prince Lei Jiang, Clear Spring Mountain remembers you. I was the one that you dueled when you first came. My teacher was very impressed with your talent and mental state", one of the disciples spoke out with a calm tone.

She had a much more mature aura and was notably the prettiest of the seven. Her hair had several pins, pulling them behind her ears but the most dazzling part about her was her eyes. One golden and one indigo, they were mesmerizing and carried a deepness within them, as if she could not be seen through.

Lei Jiang paused before smiling, "Ah, miss Jing Hai, I apologize for not remembering you. It has been a long time and I have gone through numerous battles. I truly apologize."

"No matter, are you also here for the Bloody Plains?"

"Yes, yes I am, I want to sharpen myself there and was told that the Bloody Plains would open up soon. What about you?"

"I am here with my junior sisters to train them. My master sent me to watch as part of my training."

"I see, well good luck then", Lei Jiang bowed again before leaving.

Jing Hai watched him leave before facing her junior sisters, conversing about their plans once they've reached the plains. Ming Yue observed their conversation again before leaving with Xiao Yin and Hei Yue, both of which caught one of the Clear Spring Mountain disciple's eyes. An expression of desire, yet she restrained herself and looked away.

That young master was overshadowed long ago, he could only swallow this bitterness and walk away.

"Come on!" he shouted at his guards, "We're going to the Bloody Plains now."

He left quickly unable to stay here any longer.

The Six Pillars had all grouped together outside of the city. Ming Yue met up with them, finding that Xuan Yin had already arrived. The both of them had already spoken with the Six Pillars, agreeing to travel to the Bloody Plains together.

"See anything interesting?" asked Xuan Yin.

Ming Yue responded with a shake of her head.

"I'm ready, we can go now", she responded to everyone else.

All of them left the outskirts of the city, heading west towards the territory of the Guang Yang Kingdom.. Following their departure, many other groups left the city, ready to take on the dangers of the Bloody Plains.