Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"That flower, anyone that uses that flower will find their beauty to have reached another level. This is definitely for you, Ming Yue!"

Anqing was extremely excited for this flower, it increases cultivation and even beautifies the user.

"Oh, yeah", Ming Yue replied.

She wasn't as excited for the beauty effect as she was for the cultivation increase.

"How are we going to get it? That crow over there, I'm not sure what it is but if it can sleep soundly in the open, it has to be strong."

Xukun took a closer look as did the others. After several minutes, a light seemed to popped in his head as he recognized the creature. Soon after that was the realization and the look of horror.

"Rank 6! That's Rank 6! We have to get away from here! Quickly!" he looked at them and pointed in the direction of the pavilion with urgency.

"What? Rank 6? What is it? Tell us!"

Anqing was both shocked and curious. An existence above Rank 5 was right before them, such creatures roam the lands and go wherever they pleased. This was no exception.

Xukun pulled everyone back.

"That thing is a Luminous Ink Crow. The black part of its body is an ink coating that can be used to armor parts of its body. It can weaponize its claws, wings, pretty much every part of its body. Trying to break through that layer of ink is like trying to cut through a block of steel. Killing it is impossible for us. We should get away from it. There are plenty of other treasures to be found, we don't have to get this."

As he glanced at the Ink Crow as he spoke, checking to see if it had awoken.

Despite his words, Anqing seemed quite set on this flower.

"But that's an Immortal Siren Flower. Not to mention it's rare but by the looks of it, it has more than matured. It improves one's beauty, is that not enough a reason to get it? Also, the crow is asleep. It's not going to notice us if we're this weak."

"But that's...it's too dangerous! What if it wakes up? We're dead at that point."

"That's only if it wakes up. Once we get the flower, we'll leave as soon as possible!"

"You know what, we should ask Ming Yue first before we decide. This is her treasure anyways."

"...You're right. Ming Yue, what do you- Where is she?"

"What? Did she-"

Upon their realization, they walked back to the clearing, finding Hei Yue and Xiao Yin waiting idly at the edge. Their eyes stared intensely at Ming Yue's figure, who was about fifty meters away from the sleeping crow. Crouched down, she moved quickly and silently towards it. Fortunately for her, the soil was quite soft and made little sound.

"Ming Yue, What are you doing? It's too dangerous!"

Anqing called for her fervently, trying to stay as quiet as possible. But it was too late, Ming Yue closed in on the crow, who nested by the flower.

She sneaked around its feather body, watching its chest puff in and out as it slept soundly. It was merely feet away from the flower and she approached it, careful to not wake up the crow beside her. More than that, she controlled her power and aura. After all, physical senses could only go so far but spiritual senses were much more sensitive.

Ming Yue inched closer towards the flower, getting a closer look at the plant.

The flower was beautiful and brilliant. The appearance resembled that of a chrysanthemum flower, with hundreds of rounded petals. Each one was tipped in pure white and appeared in a plethora of vibrant colors. It radiated a gentle aura but that was not enough to relieve Ming Yue's tenseness.

Taking out her dagger, Ming Yue slowly dug out the Immortal Siren Flower. She was extremely careful, keeping her hands still and making sure no to damage the flower. Her concentration reached to a point where she held her breath.

It was only until she held it in her hands that she could relax a little.

Without much thought, she placed it within her ring and crept back towards the rest of the group. As she passed by the crow, she looked at it only to find it staring at her. It's shining black eyes looked at her as the crow stood up. Its head twitched to one side so that only its right eye stared at her.

Anqing and Xukun watched in horror as the beast towered over their friend.

Why did it awaken?

Was it because of the flower?

Without it, that gentle aura was gone. The crow must've sensed that something was amiss when that gentleness was gone.

After looking at Ming Yue, it started to scan the area before its eyes landed on the upturned soil where the flower it has been guarding for hundreds of years was gone. A moment of thought was all it took to realize that it had been stolen by the girl before it. Only she was long gone, sprinting as quickly as she could.

Now that she has been found, her only choice was to run.

"Let's run!" she yelled loudly, waking the others form their shock.

Everyone took off, running through the tall grass and back towards the pavilion.

The crow cawed at them as the black ink on its body shimmered before splitting into two and coating its wings. The ink covered them like armor and even lengthened the wingspan by a full foot.

Three times the height of Ming Yue and with a wingspan that could blot out the moon, it spread its wings and took flight.

The Luminous Ink Crow waved its wings and swung them together. From the tips of the wings, the black ink formed sharp nails which shot forth and rained on ground. Even though they were made of ink, these nails could not be less dangerous, piercing through the thick trunk of trees and digging into the ground.

There was destruction everywhere as bits of wood and dirt scattered in the air.

"Why did you have to get the flower?! There were plenty of other things we could've found!" Xukun shouted out, panic and concern was written across his face.

"This was probably the best one!" Ming Yue yelled back at him, "Why else would there be a Rank 6 guarding it?"

"But still, what are we going to do now?"

"Can the both of you stop talking and focus on running? Don't forget this thing can kill us in pretty much one move!"

Anqing retorted angrily and even overtook them.

"Follow me! We're going back to the Violet Cassia Tree!"

After speaking, she ran even further ahead.

"The tree? What can it do for us? The crow practically treated those other trees like nothing."

"She must have a plan. Let's just get there first."

They stopped speaking and focused on escaping the crow above them. Being almost covered by the tall grass, it would be difficult to find them. Even with the crow's spiritual senses, there was so much in the way that the attacks it sent would just barely miss them.

But it was not flustered and knew that eventually, it would kill them and take back its treasure.

The group used whatever methods they needed to survive this ordeal. Ming Yue even launched an attack back at the crow. Several wind lances that flew up at the sky to which the ink on the crow's body churned and covered its belly. Much to its surprise, those lances were made in mere seconds and barely had any power to it. It just turned into a puff of hair on impact.

The crow seemed to sneer as the ink moved towards its claws. Then it dove down with its wings tucked in. Ming Yue looked behind to find the crow flying towards them.

"Watch out!"

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