Chapter 49: Cracking the Puzzle

"The so-called eight phases of the moon refer to the New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter Moon, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter Moon, and Waning Crescent.

The New Moon, also known as the dark moon, appears on the first day of the lunar month. The moon moves between the sun and the earth, facing the earth with its dark side, rising and setting with the sun, making it invisible to people.

The Waxing Crescent appears on the third or fourth day of the lunar month; it appears in the western sky in the evening at the beginning of the month, with the moon's face pointing west, shaped like a Sickle.

The First Quarter Moon appears in the first half of the night during the first half of the month, in the western sky, with the western half of the moon appearing bright (the moon's face pointing west).

The Waxing Gibbous appears on the twelfth or thirteenth day of each lunar month, referring to when the vast majority of the moon's circular face is bright, known as a 'gibbous moon'. The gibbous moon before the Full Moon is also called an 'Upper Gibbous', generally rising before sunset and setting before sunrise the next day.

The Full Moon, also known as the harvest moon, appears on the fifteenth or sixteenth day of the lunar month. At this time, the earth is positioned between the sun and the moon, and the entire illuminated side of the moon faces the earth; only then can we see a round moon. Ancient people called this day the 'Full Moon Day'.

The Waning Gibbous appears from the sixteenth to the twenty-second day of the lunar month; it is the gibbous moon after the Full Moon, also called a 'Lower Gibbous'. It generally rises before sunset and sets before sunrise the next day.

The Last Quarter Moon appears in the second half of the night during the second half of the month, in the eastern sky, with the eastern half of the moon appearing bright (the moon's face pointing east).

The Waning Crescent appears from the twenty-fourth day to the end of the lunar month; it appears in the eastern sky at dawn at the end of the month, with the moon's face pointing east. The saying 'the waning moon is like a hook' is the most vivid description.

The New Moon is the first phase of a month, the Waning Crescent is the last phase of a month, and the time limit the Moon God gave us for this first trial is exactly one month; I reckon if we follow the order from New Moon to Waning Crescent, we can successfully walk out of the maze."

"And Zhuqing, have you noticed? Our current location is the Waxing Gibbous. When we came from the First Quarter Moon earlier, the Moon Sha Beasts there were significantly denser than here. I suspect that the more illuminated the moon's face is, the lower the density of Moon Sha Beasts."

"That is to say, if we find the location of the New Moon, we can hunt to our heart's content. There, the moon has not a shred of illuminated face, it is all dark side, so it should gather a large number of Moon Sha Beasts, whereas at the Full Moon, barring any accidents, there won't be a single Moon Sha Beast."

"Hmm... I can only say, it's worthy of being the first trial; it's still quite simple."

Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Zhuqing suddenly saw the light and revealed a look of admiration, though she became speechless again after hearing his last sentence.

Actually, one cannot blame her; these people on the Douluo Continent only think about cultivating soul power all day and wouldn't care about such things.

"Since that's the case, let's go find the location of the New Moon immediately," Zhuqing said with a look of anticipation.

"Hahaha, no rush. Since we've already solved the puzzle, let's first map out the route. The time we wasted before was mainly spent searching for them aimlessly. Now, let's map out the route, then head straight to the New Moon, and on the last day, we can just go out in one go."

"Okay~ I'll listen to you~" Zhuqing smiled gently, her eyes filled with affection.

For a girl, Zhou Yi might be like poison; upon first meeting, he is gentle and refined like a gentleman, while in battle, he is domineering and peerless with superb strength. Once one spends a long time with him, one discovers he is not only powerful in martial strength but also possesses extraordinary wisdom and talent. Any person of the opposite sex who spends a long time with him will involuntarily fall in love with him. Unfortunately, he himself does not know his own attractiveness to the opposite sex.

Just like that, the two people and one bird determined the route and then arrived at the New Moon area to begin hunting.

Another ten days passed, and Zhuqing had already completed her goal of ninety-nine Moon Sha Beasts. As for Zhou Yi, he had already killed one hundred and eight, while Jin Ling had killed ninety. Among these, three days were spent killing them while searching for the route, so the speed could not be considered fast.

And right now, Zhou Yi was teaching Zhuqing how to use her new power.

This new power was brought about by this first trial; it was something Zhou Yi discovered when he killed the ninety-ninth Moon Sha Beast.

"Zhuqing, you should have discovered it too, right? Now, the Moon Essence Power and Moon Evil Power inside your body should have already formed two seeds. If you guide the Moon Essence Power along your meridians, do you feel that the damage from previous battles has recovered?"

"Mm~" Zhuqing felt it was magical.

"Guide the Moon Essence Power to your hands and release it."

Zhuqing continued to follow his instructions and placed her hands on her injuries; instantly, the injuries began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"For now, we can only see the restorative effect of the Moon Essence Power, but I always feel it isn't just that simple. However, we can't discover more for the time being. Compared to this, what's more interesting is the Moon Evil Power. Try releasing the Moon Evil Power to your whole body and see."

Sure enough, Zhuqing, who was releasing Moon Evil Power throughout her body, looked murderous. If a Spirit Master of the same level encountered her, they would likely be impacted mentally by this evil aura, thereby affecting their combat state.

Zhuqing was also a clever person and had now begun to conduct various experiments on the Moon Evil Power. If she attached it to her claws after her martial soul possessed her, the claws' attack power and penetration would increase, and once an enemy was hit, the evil aura would be like a maggot on a tarsal bone, difficult to clear and extremely painful. If attached to her feet, it would add power and speed.

Now, the only thing unknown is how it coordinates with soul skills. If Ice Storm could be attached with Moon Evil, that would be a finishing blow.

Zhou Yi watched from the side and nodded, thinking to himself: no wonder the Moon God set the number for Zhuqing at ninety-nine. Once ninety-nine strands of Moon Evil and Moon Essence Power gather in the body, they will form a Moon Seed. Even when they reach the outside world, the Moon Evil Seed and Moon Essence Seed will continuously absorb moon energy to produce Moon Evil and Moon Essence Power.

As for how to strengthen the seeds, Zhou Yi had only discovered two methods so far: one is to kill more Moon Sha Beasts, and the second is to absorb the essence of the moon at night. However, this Secret Realm has no daytime. Zhou Yi could feel the two seeds in his dantian rotating at high speed around each other and continuously absorbing the moon energy from the outside world to keep growing, though the speed is not as fast as killing Moon Sha Beasts.

However, these two powers are quite fitting for the Moon God. At night, moonlight nourishes and purifies people's hearts, while at the same time, the night is also a time when sin and slaughter frequently occur. The moon is inclusive; looking at it this way, it is not strange that the Moon God masters two quite contradictory powers: Moon Essence and Moon Evil.

Thus, the group seized every opportunity to kill Moon Sha Beasts in the remaining time.

Before the final day, Zhuqing had killed three hundred and twenty, Zhou Yi had killed four hundred and ninety, and Jin Ling had killed three hundred and ten.

Now, Zhuqing's first two soul rings had all turned purple, while Zhou Yi's had changed from purple-purple-black to purple-black-black, and Jin Ling had also increased its cultivation by thirty thousand years.

The group planned to hurry and leave the maze; anyway, they could continue to cultivate when they reached the outside world, though the speed wouldn't be as fast.

Finally, the two people and one bird arrived at the Waning Crescent area with two hours of the time limit remaining.

Placed here was a neutral Altar with moon patterns, which could easily accommodate ten people.

They looked at each other and stood on the Altar. Sure enough, the familiar feeling returned, and three pillars of light enveloped them once again.