She pointed her saber forward, commanding the men and women around her.

"Form the ranks! Melee in the front! Ranged in the back! You're not going to let some little girl fight alone, are you?

"

They all shouted, getting into a formation. With someone leading them, they were no longer confused. Creating two lines, they made their stand outside of the gates, aiding Ming Yue in this defense.

Commander Yu Zhen then walked forward, extending a hand toward Shen Varuna and the two beasts.

"I can watch the child, why don't you two help her?

" she said.

The little demon gave her a wary look but Hei Yue and Xiao Yin recognized the commander. After all, she was at the battle within the Boundless Beast Forest. The two beasts looked at Shen Varuna, nudging her to take the commander's hand. The little girl hesitated but she walked towards the commander and hid behind her before peeking out.

"Be safe...

"

As the beasts ran off to join the fight, she quietly prayed for their wellbeing, hoping that Ming Yue would win.

It had grown chaotic for both sides fought with wild fervor. With their bloodlines activated, the various demons fought, shooting out spears of water and pushing forward. But on the other side, the craftsmen relied on their tools and traps to fight back.

"Give me time to load up the hand cannon!

"

"Where are the talismans! We need some formations set up!

"

"Hmph, they might have bombs but we're leagues beyond that!

"

Various colors lit up the battlefield as they fired off attacks, putting down formation flags, and sending paper talismans flying. Carrying a two-handed hammer, one of them swung horizontally, the back of the head blew out with a blast of wind, making the attack faster and stronger. Another wielded and crossbow, loading up five bolts at once before shooting them in succession. One carried nothing more than a chisel, stabbing it into the ground and summoning forth a golem!

Looking from the back, the Tide King felt anger rise up from within himself. The momentum he had was lost and now he needed to reclaim it. As much as the Water Demon would've wanted to charge forward, he felt a stare lock him down. Suddenly, he spun around, deflecting a sword clearly aimed for his neck.

"You! You dare ruin my plans!

"

He shouted and gave chase to Ming Yue.

Swinging his nine-pronged trident, the demon threw it forward, aiming to pierce her body. But she was quick, parrying the trident away before charging towards him. Hai Zhu was taken back by surprise but he ducked forward, holding his hand out and calling for his weapon.

"Rising Wave!

"

He spun his trident and swung out a dozen times, each swung produced a force greater than the last. But they compounded into each other, meshing and combining into one massive attack. It blew through everything from trees to rock, smashing through it all.

"Blasting Gale.

"

Ming Yue avoided the attack before destroying it with this attack. Sending it dead center, it exploded and caused the attack to burst out and release a shockwave in all directions. And she didn't stop there, she flew towards him, attacking with a diagonal chop. He blocked it only to see her other hand, clad in the Zephyr Claws strike from below.

He jumped back, slipping through the attack, and then stood face to face with her. Taking a closer look, Hai Zhu had a look of realization.

"You... you're the one Shi Hou was talking about, the human girl in the battle. Of all the things I could've accounted for, to think I'd see you here. I would've expected you to have come much later.

"

Unfortunately, Ming Yue was in no position to talk, Pale Moon acted on a time limit. Even without it, she would not give him even an inch of space to breathe. The young cultivator took a stance and vanished from his sight before reappearing right in front of him, swinging at his legs.

It was too fast and unexpected, the Tide King couldn't block the attack but he didn't have to.

Her blade was stopped ringing out as it clashed with his armor, she retracted her sword and retreated. Looking at where she attacked, Drifting Sky left nothing more than a small dent.

"That armor... it must be made from Deepwater Steel

", she thought.

According to what she knew, this miraculous ore had two unique abilities, it can heal small injuries and reflect attacks to a certain degree. Its quality and durability were above that of normal armor. With a Peak-Divine Grade Sword like Drifting Sky, normal armor was akin to cutting paper. So for the Tide King's Armor to have nothing more than a dent showed the difference.

She looked at her sword, checking for any chips or cracks.

"An attack of that power is enough to go over the reflect ability but I only managed to make a dent. Then what would a full-powered strike do?

"

Suddenly, her sword began to hum before releasing a low howl, feeling the energy circulate within its body.

"She's trying something!

"

Crossing his arms, Hai Zhu put the trident before him, making it tremble before forming a barrier of water. He wasn't going to dodge to try to avoid it because he knew that there would be no point.

Ming Yue raised her sword and swung it casually, in a natural manner to be exact.

Within those three months, she made progress in developing this attack, an accumulation of all she learned in the stage of

"Return to Simplicity.

" As her sword moved, all of the various forces within her combined into a crescent-shaped attack that flew forward. It released an iridescent light as it crashed into the barrier, cutting through it before flying past the demon and cutting everything in its path for the next ten kilometers.

She looked at him before gazing at her sword, her hand trembled from the backlash of executing that attack.

"Hmm, I still can't quite control it

", she thought,

"Adding in the Lightning Dao Energy really makes it more difficult.

"

She tightened her grip to counter the trembling and looked towards the Tide King, who inspected his body for any injuries before looking at her.

"Hmph, you're strong and you were able to contend with Kong Zhi. I should end you now before you get to turn into a problem.

"

He then took off the top half of his armor and activated his bloodline. Gray energy flowed from his body as water seemed to seep from his pores. But it wasn't ordinary water, rather it was more viscous. Soon enough, a puddle formed beneath him before growing and morphing into fish.

They swam around, leaving behind trails of this slippery water. As they did so, he stepped forward, spinning his trident while eyeing her.

"I am a Water Demon. We are the lowest of all demons that control water because we produce impure water.

"

He held his hand up, showing up the gray water spinning forth from his palm.

"I worked hard to hone my ability, to control it to the most precise degree. Thus, I created this, Corrupted Sea, my own personal prison for you.

"

Suddenly the fish jumped out, dozens of them flew into the air with their fanged jaws open.

Ming Yue looked around and lashed out, destroying the fish only for them to return to the water and reform. And they continued to swim, circling around her like sharks.

"I wonder if you can stop me from destroying all that you tried to protect.

"

His voice grew lower and sharper, like a dagger that was unsheathed.

Ending his words, he leaped forward, landing on one of the trails and sliding through towards Ming Yue.. His trident was pointed forward, aimed at her heart.