Encounter

Sitting by a river, a girl could be seen fishing for her next meal. She wore a simple white robe with her sleeves rolled up as she focused on her fishing rod. However, it did nothing to tarnish her beauty. 

This person was none other than Ming Yue. 

Several months have passed since her time at the village and much had changed about her. She had a much more mature look on her, a calm atmosphere surrounded her as she fished. 

During this time, she did not waste any of it, reading Teacher Fan's sword manual and practicing her skills with the Parting Sun Blade. The manual was very basic, giving explanations on cultivation along with swordplay.

Ming Yue had a much better understanding of how the world of cultivation worked. There were 4 realms: Human, Earth, Sky, and Heaven. Human Realm was something she already knew about.

But the other three realms were something she knew little about.

"Earth had 7 levels: Core, Mind, Sight, Feel, Emotion, Soul, Edge. Sky had 5 levels named the 5 Skies and Heaven had 3 levels which were Lower, Middle, and Peak."

But the manual only told her this much. There was nothing to describe these stages, even the Human realm had sub-par descriptions.

"The Human Realm is where one trains the body, as one progresses, all of their physical capabilities will improve. Once you breakthrough, you will hear various clicks throughout your body as a surge of strength courses through you."

As of right now, Ming Yue was at the 2nd level of the Human Realm. She had broken through a month ago from training. Despite that, the journey there was extremely dangerous.  There have been several situations where she had fought with wild beasts, suffering multiple injuries.

Fortunately, Ming Yue was quite adept in medicine and all of these experiences had honed her mind as well as her skills.

"Splash!"

Ming Yue's fishing rod trembled as a trout had grabbed onto the bait.

In one fluid motion, she lifted the rod up and caught the fish in her hands. Having obtained her meal, the young girl went back to a small camp that she set up. Grilling it over a fire, she ate it off of the stick, eating the flaky white flesh. 

Although it was delicious, she showed no sign of emotion. 

After her meal, she stood up and took out her sword. It was a beautiful blade, longer than her but she held it with a sense of familiarity. Then she had begun her practice.

"Stab, Parry, Slice, Lunge, Left, Right..."

As she practiced, Ming Yue fell into a state of complete concentration, repeating this string of moves over and over again.

"Split."

At this final move, She held her blade in one hand and swung it horizontally. It was swift and the momentum from such a long blade gave it more power. In one move, the tree that she had been practicing on had been bisected. If someone's neck had been there, their head would have surely flown off.

This was the move that killed Blood Wolf, a simple slice that contained invisible power.

With her practice finished, she re-sheathed her sword and turned in for the night.

Suddenly, a scream could be heard. It was full of pain and then it was cut short. Ming Yue woke up and put up her guard. She immediately hid on a tree and waited.

Soon enough, a boy came running, he had a scared look on his face, tripping and falling to the ground. He attempted to crawl away as he looked in terror. Soon enough, a beast had arrived, it was a giant snake that was five meters long!

With its dark green scales, it slowly moved onto the boy, eyeing it as if it were a cornered mouse.

"Why?! I've only just become an outer disciple. Why is my luck so bad?" the boy thought.

He had been outside for some experiential training with a fellow disciple. Never would he have thought that they would encounter a Rank 2, Jade Snake. Now his partner was dead and he was next.

As the snake moved closer, he closed his eyes as he waited for his death but it never came. Instead, he heard the snake hiss as sounds of fighting started. He opened them and saw a girl fighting it with Parting Sun.

It was Ming Yue, waiting for the right time to drop from the tree and attack the snake. Although she did not kill it from that surprise attack, she left a large gash on the snake's body. The Jade Snake then changed its focus to her instead. It eyed her carefully, wary of this little girl who had left such an injury on it.

Ming Yue looked at the boy coldly and said, "Run".

Although he was surprised and was almost at the jaws of death, he took out his sword and circled the snake, opposite of Ming Yue.

"You can't take it on by yourself! It's a Jade Snake! It's Rank 2!" he called out. 

She couldn't bother with him and ignored his actions, watching the snake carefully. This beast was the toughest enemy that she had encountered so far and she was on high alert.

Then the snake attacked her, aiming to bite her arm but she dodged and slashed at the snake. It had tried to dodge but could not leave her attack range in time, suffering a small but noticeable injury.

The boy then took this opportunity and attacked the snake's blind spot, stabbing it in the tail. The snake hissed in pain as the attacks from both ends had weakened it. Despite only meeting each other, they worked together, attacking while the other was defending.

With them on either end, the Jade Snake could not attack one without the other attacking it. Slowly, its body began to bleed from all sorts of places. It lost blood profusely, feeling weak and its sight grew blurry. 

If it was not careful, it would die. 

Realizing this, the beast chose to retreat and tried to escape through the boy, charging towards him. 

However, Ming Yue had noticed this and was one step ahead. She jumped onto the snake and dashed for its head. As she reached it, she pointed her sword at the snake's head. Then in one smooth motion, she stabbed the snake right through its skull, going through its entire head.

The snake pulled back as it jerked and trembled before finally falling to the ground dead. 

She then pulled Parting Sun out and proceeded to cut its head off.

The boy saw everything, he was amazed, he had never seen someone his age this powerful before.

"That was amazing! How are you that strong?!" he asked. 

Ming Yue only ignored him and began packing up, evidently, she had wanted to leave. The boy was surprised, he didn't think that such a pretty girl was so cold. When she was about to leave, he quickly introduced himself.

"My name is Fei Xian, I'm a disciple of the Eternal Blade Sect. Can I have your name?"

Ming Yue looked at Fei Xian.

"Ming Yue," she answered, and then she dashed away.

"Ming Yue..." muttered Fei Xian, "What a pretty girl."

As much as he wanted to get to know her more, he could do nothing about it. He was too weak but seeing her motivated him. 

"I need to train harder."

Then he started to walk back to his sect and noticed something by his side. It was a little package, a folded piece of paper with something inside. He opened it up and saw some medicinal powder, one seemed to be for his cuts and bruises.

He thought, "It must have been from her."

Fei Xian smiled as he folded it back up and put it in his pocket, making his way back to the Eternal Blade Sect. There would be much for him to say when he got back.