Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Another week passed before she was fully recovered. Able to move freely now, the first thing she set out to do was to explore all of Heaven's Gate.

As Elder Shen was occupied with other matters, he sent Bai Ying to guide her.

Accompanied by the small cat and her two pets, Ming Yue walked through the many buildings of the Institution before trailing into the city around it. The gray badge swayed about as it hung from her wrist like a bracelet.

Bai Ying took the three through all of the spires of the Institution, numbered well over one hundred with many kinds of facilities: cultivation rooms, training fields, gardens, workshops, forges and much more.

The Institution was incredibly beautiful and seemed to cater to the faculty. Elder Hua's section was filled with numerous pill-making rooms and medical gardens. Elder Shen's domain was much more mysterious and always carried a strange atmosphere.

Having seen most of the Heaven's Gate, Hei Yue and Xiao Yin walked with Bai Ying leisurely while Ming Yue's eyes darted around.

Every hall she looked at seemed to have its own unique appearance, some sort of special decor. Whether it was physical objects like statues to pieces of art, each elder must have decorated their hall personally. Otherwise, she could not think of another reason for the colorful sights. The halls themselves were both the Elder's personal home and had some special features. Giant cauldrons, intricate forges, vast libraries, each hall had something.

Being a "specialized" student really had its perks. The more she walked around the more she realized how much power that badge had. All it took was one small look from the overseers before she would be allowed in. Of course, with Bai Ying, there were other procedures that were skipped.

Contrary to that, a normal badge would require one to state their purpose and pay to use these areas for a limited time. While the badge could not fully waive the need to pay, it would allow her a rather hefty discount.

After walking through various places, they reached the "Beast Hall", where loud and powerful rumbling came from within.

"What exactly is inside? Could it be beasts but how could they be kept in here?" Ming Yue thought.

"This is the Beast Hall", said Bai Ying, "Past these doors is one of the more unique places. A spatial world, created by one of the first founders, especially for keeping and caring for creatures. Something like this cannot be copied since it requires the skill of someone at the Immortal Realm. Though, the last Immortal Realm Cultivator existed during the Warlord Age."

Out of curiosity, she walked towards it and looked inside. What she had opened to was something that exceeded her imagination.

What Bai Ying said was right, it really was a world of its own. All sorts of creatures ran about as several groups of people ran about with some strange equipment. Some were being fed, others cleaned, there were even several who sparred with some of the Bestial Halls members. Wearing dark yellow-colored robes, their clothes were wrapped tightly around their limbs and were quite easy to move in. The words "Beast Hall" were embroidered on their sleeves.

They were all too occupied to see the strange group comprising of three beasts and a young girl.

"Ah, you're that girl! You're finally awake", a tanned man who was occupied with feeding what seemed to be an infant bear with streaks of bright violet fur, noticed her entering.

"Come over!" he said.

With no reason to decline, she walked forward and sat next to him.

"I am the Beast Elder, you can call me Elder Zhou", he looked at her with a bit of excitement.

"Now that you're here, I've been curious about your Mistral Fox there. How did you come across him?" Elder Zhou asked earnestly.

"Oh, um, I saved him while I was out traveling", she answered, not wanting to speak about his origins.

Saying that he was found after the death of his mother did not seem appropriate to say.

"Hm, you must be lucky then. There aren't many occasions where one can see a variant of a beast much less something as illustrious as a Mistral Fox. Judging from his size, he was a child when you found him although he has only grown a bit more", he said.

"Variant?" Ming Yue was confused, Hei Yue was different from a normal Mistral Fox.

"Ah, Elder Hua did say you haven't seen much of the world. I'll explain", Elder Zhou had just finished feeding the little bear and let it sleep in his arms.

Feeling a lengthy conversation was about to unfold, Bai Ying rested on her lap. Hei Yue decided to play with some of the other beasts and Xiao Yin chased after.

"As you may know, Beasts are divided into ranks from 1 through 10. Anything above that would be considered a legendary beast like dragons and phoenixes. Rank 1 through 3 can be dealt with by Human Realm Cultivators or even ordinary people if they have the right tools. From Rank 4 to 6, Earth Realm Cultivators would be needed to subdue them. Finally, those from 7 to 10 would need at the very least several Heaven Realm Cultivators to contend. These ranks only indicate the general strength of these beasts. In this hall of mine, we have numerous beasts from rank 1 to rank 7. Although that one is currently asleep", said Elder Zhou, who looked off into a distance, staring at a lone mountain.

"With that said, there are many variables that can affect their strength and thus affect their ability. These can lead to variants, much rarer and usually much stronger in some aspects. Your Mistral Fox is one such example."

"How are you so sure?" Ming Yue understood that the little fox had differently colored fur but that did not seem like it would make him a variant.

After all, Hei Yue's dark fur was due to him absorbing the essence of a winged wolf, the one that killed his mother.

"Heh, I'm not the Beast Elder for nothing", Elder Zhou smirked, "His bones are inherently different, much stronger than his own race. It doesn't seem like he was born this way but gained it through some beast."

"Oh, he did run off while we were exploring some ruins. Perhaps that was what did this."

"Do you happen to know what it was?"

Ming Yue shook her head. When she had come across an old hideout of some Azure Mind Fanatics, Hei Yue had run off on his own but came back satisfied and incredibly lethargic.

"Ah how unfortunate, I would have loved to find out. I should probably get back to my duties. I still have several other children to feed", Elder Zhou stood up, carrying the bear in his arms with ease.

"Welcome to Heaven's Gate, young one", saying his last words, he almost disappeared in her eyes.

"Hmm", she thought, "He seems like a nice person."

"Let's go, girl, we might as well check out some of the more special places", the small cat stretched its body before leaving the small world of the Bestial Hall.

"Can we go to Elder Xiang? The other elders told me that he was interested in teaching me but so far I have yet to see him", Ming Yue.

"Don't be so impatient, we're getting there", Bai Ying answered back lazily.

Soon enough, they reached the personal hall of Elder Xiang. Compared to the others, this was quite bare. Even if it were put side to side with Elder Shen's dreary hall, Elder Xiang's hall had nothing. Rather than a plaque, the entrance had a pillar on each side. The words "Blade Hall" were carved elegantly on the two pillars.

With a closer look, Ming Yue found these words to have been carved with a sword! Each stroke that was made had some power to them as they gave out a feeling of sharpness.

"Come on, let's go see the boring geezer", Bai Ying walked past the pillars while Ming Yue and the other two quickly followed.