Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

As the pair descended, Ming Yue showed more interest as to what was underground. They landed in a few minutes, standing between the plateaus and within the gaps. 

"I can't believe that I missed this earlier", she muttered.

Before her were these cracks that spread all throughout the pathways, some were large and others were small. Being so focused on the spires and the plateaus, Ming Yue didn't seem to notice these cracks. Albeit from afar, it was just shadows and darkness within them.

However, it was easy to tell that it was all caused by the same thing. And now that she had a closer look, Ming Yue saw exactly what it was. 

"Roots, tree roots!"

She knelt down and peered into the cracks, finding dense tree roots underneath. They twisted and coiled against one another tightly. Their color was no different from the tree trunks but something about them was strange.

Knocking against the ground, some of it crumbled apart. 

"Doesn't seem to be a big drop", she thought. 

Ming Yue then turned to Xiao Yin. 

"Stay here, alert me if there's anything going on out there but be careful, okay?" 

The owl cooed in response, watching as the young cultivator slipped through the cracks, vanishing from sight. 

Landing on the roots, Ming Yue looked around her, studying the area. With all of the cracks scattered across, it was dimly lit, revealing the vastness of it all. 

"Is this... is this all connected?" she muttered.

Looking from one end to the next, Ming Yue soon realized that the underground was much different than she had expected. 

It was hollow inside as if the ground was just a shell for the roots. And it expanded for as far as the eye could see, most likely underneath this entire piece of land. Each of the plateaus had roots that came from this, intertwined with one another. All of it was connected, each and every tree from all of the plateaus.

And her eyes followed it all to the way to a specific place, the plateau with the formation. 

"I was right, all of this is caused by the formation!" she thought. 

Making her way towards it, Ming Yue felt a strange energy emanating from it, no doubt the result of this formation. The remnant Calamity energy had changed, mutated after being sealed into the land, turned into a poison. 

But there was certainly more to it than that. 

As she walked closer and closer, the aura grew stronger and denser. Until Xue Yue suddenly spoke out.

"Take Blood Moon out, now!" she shouted. 

Hearing this, Ming Yue immediately brandished her sword as she felt the energy around her fluctuate. The tree roots shivered and trembled before something shot out, screeching as it opened its mouth to eat her. 

But she was ready for this sudden attack, swinging out and cutting this thing from its mouth through its tail. 

Blackish blood splattered all over, marking her clothes and sizzling as the two halves of this creature fell to the ground. She felt a burning sensation on her skin as some of it got on her, biting away at her body.

"Acidic blood?"

Quickly, she circulated her energy, building it up into an aura, and scattered the blood off of her.

"What was that?" 

Ming Yue turned to look but swiftly spun back as another one came out, screeching with its mouth wide open. Her sword flashed, killing it in the same way. But that wasn't the end of it. 

The hole that the tree roots created echoed out with a strange sound, skittering like that of bugs. 

She glanced at the two creatures out from the corner of her eye, staying alert for any new ones. 

"What is that? Centipedes? They're so ferocious... No, of course, they would be. This is the heart of the Savage Lands where the remnant energy is at its densest. They must've been absorbing that energy all this time", she thought. 

And by the sounds coming from that hole, there were more than just two. 

"So this must be what would've happened to the entire continent. It would've been plateaus and tree roots. Everything would end up like this, as if a plague swept through it all."

Looking back down, her eyes shimmered with light as she pointed her hand at the hole. 

"I can't fix this all by myself but a bit of culling should help."

The skittering grew louder as more of these centipedes climbed up but a powerful wind pushed them back. It then twisted and spun gently before building up into a violent tornado. What came after was the combined sound of cracked shells and shrieks of pain. Although it couldn't be seen, she could hear these centipedes getting torn apart by the tornado. 

And all she did was add more power to it, increasing the rate at which they died. 

"I won't be able to kill them all but getting rid of most of them should do something", she thought. 

This extermination of sorts continued until she could no longer hear the screeches. That was when she stopped, taking another look around her. There was a look of slight relief before jumping out of the crack. 

"The energy weakened, that's a good sign." 

Exiting it, she was greeted by Xiao Yin as the owl flew up and landed on her shoulder. 

"Alright, let's go back, we've done enough for today", she said. 

Xiao Yin cooed in response to Ming Yue, flying in the direction where their home was. The young woman followed after the Star Owl but turned back for a moment, looking down at the plateaus. She was silent and left soon after. 

This was definitely a problem but she was only one person. 

This formation had much larger implications than she could have imagined. Ming Yue couldn't reverse what had happened to the land. At best, she could try to slow it down. But with the spread of this energy, the land around it was slowly dying, transforming into what she had saw before. She would have to periodically return. 

And whilst she returned to her home, the tribes of the beast-kin had gathered together.

At this moment, there were nearly a hundred individuals, each was a leader of one of the strongest tribes. They were gathered within a giant, circular hall seated in rows, one higher than the other. Some were exceedingly powerful, others were wisened, and few were timid. 

Suddenly someone stood up, a beast-kin resembling that of a lion. 

There was certain power to him but also a calm and experienced expression. Dressed in heavy robes, he spoke up. 

"I'm sure you all know why we have gathered here", he said. 

They all looked at him, some nodded at his words. 

"Of course we do, Ruishi Wang, this is about the teleportation array, yes?" one of them said. 

Ruishi Wang nodded with a serious expression. 

"Yes, one of the Expedition teams, the Four Claws have discovered one and killed the beast that claimed it as their home. Now that we know of its location, we now must find a way to activate it."

He explained, looking at them all. 

"Our scholars are already working to find any clues as is the Expedition Division, working tirelessly to find more information from the ruins. However, be as it may, there is little to find. At best, all that we know is that it requires an immense quantity of energy, we do not know how to activate it."

"So, what do you want to do then?" one of the elders asked. 

Ruishi Wang smiled and looked at the one who spoke. 

"I am glad that you asked. I want to propose sending a special team to the North, where the heart of the Savage Lands is", he said.