Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"If I didn't use all of my strength, I probably wouldn't have been able to make such a clean cut through the tree", she thought. 

With that in mind, Ming Yue moved deeper into the plateau where there were even more trees waiting for her. In fact, it began to look like a maze as she saw nothing but trees around her. They were all the same, massive and tall. 

Worse yet, these trees reached up to the clouds, practically stopping any sunlight from entering. 

Rather than a bright sunny day, it felt like the pair was in a cold and dim forest where a faint fog took place. 

"Strange, how can there be such a difference?" she muttered. 

Ming Yue looked up to find the sky covered in darkness, no doubt created by the treetops. 

"Does anything even live around here?"

As she moved through the trees, her eyes went from one to the other, looking for even the smallest hint of movement. Xiao Yin flew above her but stayed quite close. Even the Star Owl had a strange feeling about this place. 

And there were more than just one of these plateaus, there were at least over a dozen of them, each one just like the other. 

Ming Yue just continued moving forward, trying to see if there was more to this than just trees. But this one had nothing. 

"Hm, onto the next then."

Having walked straight through without sensing a single living thing, she flew off to the next plateau. But the result was the same, there was nothing around her. There wasn't even a blade of grass on here.

And after exploring a few more, she stopped. 

Exiting this last one, Ming Yue flew off and turned back to look at the plateaus and the numerous trees. 

"Is there only that formation?" 

There was some disappointment on her face as she gave another look around the scene. Part of her wanted to go and explore all of the plateaus but after checking these first few, chances were that more disappointment would await her. 

Turning to leave, she started to fly off until two things caught her attention. 

From above, Xiao Yin was calling for her attention, hooting as the owl pointed up at the clouds with one of its wings. And below her, there was something that caught her eyes, cracks running through the gaps between the plateaus. But it wasn't the cracks that grabbed her attention but what was within them. 

There seemed to be something growing beneath them. 

If she hadn't been flying above, she wouldn't have noticed it. Rather, if she hadn't gone towards the middle of this place, Ming Yue wouldn't have seen the cracks. 

But now she had found two things to investigate, the question was which one? 

Taking a few moments to think, Ming Yue made her decision. 

"I'll go up first, Xiao Yin seems  concerned over what's up there."

She looked in the direction where the Star Owl pointed, staring up into the clouds. Xiao Yin had pointed at the plateau that they had just left. 

"Hmm, if it's not on the ground, then maybe it's all in the treetops", she thought. 

It was certainly not impossible but Ming Yue wasn't sure what to expect. The cultivator ascended up towards the clouds, flying close to the treetop before entering it with Xiao Yin. As she expected the top certainly resembled the rest of the trees. The branches had the same sheen as the trunk and the leaves were of a dark green color. 

Other than that, it was dense with leaves and even more maze- like than the ground level. 

It was hard to tell what branches belonged to what trees as they were all intertwined with each other. And with the leaves, it was as if she was stuck inside a giant bush. 

"I wonder why Xiao Yin called me to this place?" 

Ming Yue gently landed on one of the branches, looking around as she quietly moved from one branch to the next. While moving about, she heard something, a low rhythmic rumbling. 

"What was that?" 

Her eyes widened as she raised her senses to their highest. Looking around, she moved slowly, trying to find the source of this sound. However, the branches coiled even tighter as Ming Yue moved closer to the center. It had gone to a point where she couldn't go any further as there was barely any space to move. She could barely even move her fingers forward. 

"I could cut my way through but I don't want to alert whatever is here."

Ming Yue then exited the dense treetop, looking at it up close. Although she couldn't go deeper in, she wasn't going to give up just like that. Her eyes then moved higher, past the clouds. 

"What if I go from the top?" she thought. 

Flying further up, she went past the clouds and moved closer towards the surface. As she flew over the top of the trees, Ming Yue landed on the leaves and branches, looking around her as she did but it was difficult to see around her.

After all, she was within the depths of the clouds. 

Ming Yue slowly made her way towards the middle of the trees, walking over the treetop. Each step came with the sound of rustling while she narrowed her eyes, trying to see through the clouds. The low rumbling was much louder compared to before. 

Her hand slowly reached for Blood Moon, resting on the hilt as she moved closer. 

At this moment, Xiao Yin didn't dare fly, instead, the owl landed on the treetop, following Ming Yue. 

They moved closer and closer, hearing the rumbling grow louder with each step. Suddenly, the clouds thinned out as she saw what exactly was there. 

Standing at the edge, Ming Yue looked with surprise before looking down at Xiao Yin. 

"How did you even find this?" she asked with a strangely shocked tone. 

The Star Owl merely looked up at her and cooed, as if not knowing what was before them. In fact, Xiao Yin seemed quite proud to have found this. 

Ming Yue turned to look at the sight before her. 

"I didn't think I'd see it here", she muttered. 

"The Devouring Goose."

Indeed, what was before her was none other than this terrifying beast. This massive bird that she had witnessed eating a portion of the land, trees, boulders, and countless beasts. And now that she was standing before it, the Devouring Goose seemed much larger now. Its size was second to the World Serpent, who could fit its body within the Cerulean Serpent's Lake. 

And that lake was comparable to any sea. 

As for the Devouring Goose, it was perhaps a dozen times larger than the golem. Fortunately, it was asleep while Ming Yue examined it from afar. 

"That low rumbling must've been this beast snoring, doesn't seem like it will wake up any time soon. Let's have a closer look at it then."

Along with Xiao Yin, the pair moved forward, checking their surroundings. 

"So this is its nest... is it the same for the other ones then?" she wondered. 

While she did check the ground, Ming Yue didn't think to check the treetops as well. Having gone above the clouds before, she didn't see anything that warranted her attention. 

"Mm, I shouldn't have underestimated how dense those clouds were."

Thinking this, she circled around the Devouring Goose, trying to see if there was anything aside from the beast. However, there was nothing else to see. It was just the beast, not even the bones of the prey it consumed were here. 

Ming Yue backed off, leaving the beast and descending from the top. 

"Now I know where to find that beast next time.. Now, it's time to see what's down below."