Having fallen to the ground, Hei Yue and Xiao Yin stopped what they were doing and rushed to Ming Yue's side. They looked incredibly worried and moved her body inside. Her body was weak and sapped of energy and they laid her onto the bed.
Fortunately, she was still breathing so the two did not seem quite worried. At the same time, they were confused as to what had happened. She seemed fine, waving her sword about and suddenly she collapses without warning.
"What about the old woman?" they thought, refering to Grand Researcher Ou.
Perhaps she knew what happened to Ming Yue.
The pair set off to find her as Ming Yue's conciousness went through a number of changes. She found herself in a different space but it was a familiar one. It was the gray world where Xue Yue resided in, the space within her soul.
Ming Yue looked around, wandering for a few minutes.
"Hm, you're here."
Xue Yue's voice whispered into her ear as Ming Yue turned around to find her counterpart standing in front of her.
"Why am I here?" she asked, "Is it becasue of what I did?"
Xue Yue shrugged, giving Ming Yue an annoyed look.
"What do you think? How else would you explain this?"
At this time, the gray world began to rumble and crack as the sky turned black and millions of twinkling lights appeared above them. There was a countless number of them and it resembled the night sky.
"What's happening?" Ming Yue called out as she tried to maintain her balance.
"I don't know."
Opposite to her, Xue Yue revealed a troubled expression as she gazed around.
The twinkling lights began to shine even more brightly, growing in size. The pair looked up and the feeling of danger loomed over them. It wasn't until seconds before they realized that these lights were not getting larger but instead coming closer. In fact, they were coming down at an alarming speed.
Both Ming Yue and Xue Yue jumped away avoiding the first few that fell. As it reached the ground, they pierced it with ease.
These lights were not stars of the night sky, they were swords. Swords made of soul energy, each and every one of them were all the same, taking on the same appearance as Drifting Sky.
Ming Yue looked in surprise before Xue Yue grabbed one of those swords and used it to defend herself. She followed after, taking up a sword and began deflecting the rain of blades that came down.
Each time a blade pierced the ground, the space around it would turn to dust.
More importantly, the numerous swords that fell upon them grew in strength. They were heavier, sharper, and gave off an aura of danger.
The swords in their hands had taken a beating. There were cracks in the edges and pieces had been chipped off. The sharp pressure they felt was overbearing, it was like a knife constantly pressed against their throats.
Ming Yue found something familiar about this aura. It was similar to that of Elder Xiang, who had revealed his strength when they had first met. The only way it could be described was that it was extremely sharp and tyrannical.
What she faced right now did not have that tyrannical feeling but there was an undeniable intensity. It was like facing a thousand swordsmen at once, a thousand blades all pointed at her.
Both Xue Yue and Ming Yue had separated from each other, too focused on what was above them to care about each other. The moment their swords had broken, they tossed it aside and grabbed another continuing to brave the onslaught.
"How do you even stop this?!" Xue Yue yelled out.
"Endure it!"
Ming Yue replied but she didn't know if that was the correct answer. If this was a tribulation or trial, then she had to endure it, to survive until the end. However, Xue Yue was not satisfied with such an answer.
"I've been enduring for a long time. I'm not going to act so passively!"
She grabbed another blade, wielding two in her hands and sent off a wave of energy towards the sky. She flew up and began sending off one attack after the other, getting higher and higher.
"Wait! That's too dangerous!"
Ming Yue watched as her counterpart charged at the sky while she stayed behind, dodging and deflecting. She did not think Xue Yue would be so reckless and could not help but show concern for her.
"Damn it", she cursed herself and chased after Xue Yue.
Meanwhile, it took a bit but Hei Yue and Xiao Yin were able to find Grand Researcher Ou. After running off to find her, they returned to the Research District and dashed through the main building until they found Zhi Qing. She had been carrying some documents before two blurs of a beast charged towards her.
Seeing their fearful eyes she knew that something had gone wrong and went to get her master.
Upon seeing the trio burst into her quarters, the Grand Researcher realized that something must have happened to Ming Yue. However in her position, she could not leave the halls so easily and had many things to do. Instead, she gave Zhi Qing a medallion and sent them off.
By activating that medallion, it would send out an astral projection of her so that she could view the situation.
With it, Zhi Qing travelled to Ming Yue's courtyard and found her unconsious but still breathing.
"What happened?" she looked around, finding Ming Yue's sword laying on the ground outside.
Picking it up, she studied it and found remnants of soul and heart energy on the blade. Looking around, Zhi Qing noticed the broken stones and realized that Ming Yue must have been testing her improved sword. But that did not explain her current situation.
She stepped towards Ming Yue, whose body was pale and the energy within her was weak. She looked internally, finding that Ming Yue's soul was incredibly weak. Examining it even closer, she saw a sword of soul energy stabbed through Ming Yue's soul.
"What? She damaged her own soul?"
Zhi Qing was surprised and could not fathom why Ming Yue would do such a thing. She removed the medallion given to her by the Grand Researcher and activated it. The medallion glowed and sent out a white, transparent projection of Grand Researcher Ou.
She faced Zhi Qing before looking at Ming Yue and examining her.
At first, she felt shock and concern but then it changed to understanding. This damage was intentional and she realized that this was to temper the soul!
Projecting her voice to the others, she explained what exactly was happening.
"She is tempering her own soul, so you do not need to worry as there will be no lasting damage. However, do not interrupt her or awaken her or you will have disruppted the process."
Zhi Qing was surprised.
"She is tempering her soul? But this method, it is too dangerous is it not? She formed a sword of her own soul energy and stabbed herself! This is too cruel of a method."
"You forget, she is not from here nor have our research been made public to the rest of the world. We should keep watch to make sure the process goes well but assuming she knows what she's doing, Ming Yue should recover."
Looking at Ming Yue, everyone wondered why she would temper her soul at a time like this.
Then, without warning, Ming Yue's body trembled as she suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood.
They felt shock and checked to find that her soul was slowly growing smaller and smaller, with the sword absorbing it until only it existed. Her soul was no more.