Maiden Of The Splitting Moon - Chapter 744: Fury and Madness

The crescent slash flew forward, slicing through all ten serpents and vaporizing the roots. Ming Yue spared no time, flying straight for Cheng Wei. Thrusting Blood Moon forward, she aimed for his neck, looking to end the fight in one fell swoop.

But things were not going to be as easy as that.

The old man moved his other hand, holding his palm over the ground. Wood grew out from it, forming a long staff that he used to deflect the attack. It spun around, redirecting the sword toward the ground with one end before using the other end to strike back.

Ming Yue caught on quickly, using the Black Blade to block the attack.

But her surroundings suddenly darkened as she saw the serpents looming over her.

“I can use more than just my hands to control them.”

Cheng Wei let go of the staff, jumping back and allowing the serpents to dive down. Seeing all ten of them going right for her, Ming Yue sprinted out, chasing after the old man.

The giant wood serpents crashed down with a thundering boom before going after her.

Being much quicker, Ming Yue closed in on Cheng Wei, swinging Blood Moon at him. He summoned another staff, using it to block the strike this time. Letting the sword bite into it, he spun the staff around, trying to twist the blade out of her grasp.

But Ming Yue still had the Black Blade, using it to cut right through the staff.

Split into two pieces, Cheng Wei immediately grabbed them, dual-wielding them. He swung them towards her just as she retaliated. Their weapons clashed whilst the serpents parted, avoiding the pair before circling.

They rose up, towering above the battle and looking down.

“Why? Why would you do this? Use the Evergreen Heart for your own benefit but destroy it for everyone else? Can’t you see what a great boon this is?”

Cheng Wei yelled out. The old man pushed forward, launching Ming Yue back several meters. He stood there, dropping the staff pieces before bringing out a new one.

“I need it! If I don’t, I will die and I cannot afford to do so”, she reasoned.

Regaining her footing, she brandished both swords, looking back at him.

“What? There aren’t any other options?! Nothing?!”

Ming Yue shook her head.

“No, I’m running out of time, and of all the ideas out there, this was the best one. All I need is a piece of it.”

Cheng Wei scoffed.

“You’re being unreasonable, arrogant in fact! Do you think that you can do as you please, take what you want? Destroy to your heart’s content?”

The young woman almost had a pleading look on her face.

“Senior, you cannot possibly let the Evergreen Heart out into the world. There would be so much chaos, everyone would want to take control of it. Can you protect it?” she asked him.

Cheng Wei’s face darkened as he suddenly floated up. He held his hand open, allowing the serpents to gather behind him.

“Do you not think that I can hold my own? I have my methods.”

The young cultivator looked up at this sight. The expression on her face was conflicted, Cheng Wei’s words had taken root in her heart.

Was it truly the right thing for her to just destroy it?

Perhaps, she was wrong. Perhaps… it wouldn’t start a war. After all, Cheng Wei was a member of the Dark Water Kingdom, one of the Six Great Kingdoms. With their alliance, keeping the Evergreen Heart protected wouldn’t be too difficult. But if she was right, the peace that lasted several thousand years after the Warlord Era would be broken. War would come and that was something she wished to avoid dearly.

“Senior please, you have to understand. I do not wish to fight you! Not only have you helped me greatly. you are a friend of Elder Shen!”

Despite her words, Cheng Wei did not change his stance.

“No! You chose this! You chose to destroy something that could very well change the world for the better!

He looked determined, almost crazed even.

“I spent years trying to nurture it, letting it flourish bit by bit! From the moment, you handed that branch to me, I gave it my everything! I agonized over it, searching everywhere for new ingredients to add! Do you not understand how much progress I’ve made? And yet, you want to destroy it?! Ha!”

Laughing out loud, Cheng Wei glared at her, pointing his staff which slowly morphed into a spear.

“You know what, I’ve been running out of new things to add but there’s still one thing I haven’t tried yet. Life.”

Suddenly thrusting his spear forward, the serpents dove down, swarming after her.

Ming Yue jumped back before leaping into the air, avoiding the serpent’s charge.

“You would dare cross such lines?!” she yelled out to him.

“People have always been a forbidden ingredient, a factor that could not be used in experiments! That is of course, if such ‘lines’ matter to me anymore. After all, what is one person’s life worth compared to millions?” he answered.

Her eyes snapped toward Cheng Wei, who sneered at her.

“A Penzai can only grow by adding more and more varying things to it. If you’ve run out of plants, beasts will be next, and after that, people. The more complex, the more choices to have. After all, we aren’t cattle but individual people, vastly different from one another. Think of the effect just one body will have on it.”

Swinging his spear, Cheng Wei guided the serpents on a whim, pulling them back before letting them surround the young cultivator.

“Come on then, turn into nourishment for the Evergreen Heart!”

Floating above her at the center, he charged at her, spinning his spear around before thrusting at her. Ming Yue reacted quickly, blocking the strike with Blood Moon before attacking with the Black Blade. At the same time, the serpents made their move, widening their mouths.

It looked as if they were about to take a bite out of the plateau.

The old man snapped his fingers, bringing forth roots that wrapped around her ankles, keeping her stuck in place. But as he tried to pull his spear away, Ming Yue stabbed the Black Blade into the ground before grabbing the spear. She didn’t waste a second pulling the spear and bringing him closer to her.

“You!”

As he couldn’t escape, Cheng Wei raised his hand up, stopping the serpents in their tracks. He let go of the spear but he barely moved several feet before hearing a thunderous boom in the skies.

His eyes immediately looked up at the skies, noticing dark clouds churning above.

By then, Ming Yue had freed herself, taking Blood Moon before flying up into the air. As she ascended both swords howled while she fed them more and more power. in an instant he knew what she planned on doing. And his face was filled with shock and anger.

“You would do this?! Destroy everything?! That one attack from above will destroy everything! You won’t have what you want! This entire place will cease to exist!” he shouted out.

She flew higher and high into the skies until she was just below the clouds, right next to the bolt of lightning forming beside her. That was the only move she could think of. She couldn’t keep Pale Moon active for as long as the serpents were alive. No matter how much she destroyed them, they’d come back and she knew that the Evergreen Heart was behind their supposed “immortality”.

If that was the case, she’d have to destroy everything, even if it meant being unable to get what she want.

Now, having heard his words, she only said one thing,

“So be it.”