Destiny in Cinders

Nine eyes, seven mouths, three heads, five arms, caved-in faces and an abyss-like abdomen, as well as the unmistakable presence that was similar to the vilespawn fiend! An Jing recognized this heavenly fiend. It was the very same one that had been unsealed at Direlife Canyon that had attempted to chase him down. His voice was filled with rage. ”I see... So it’s these guys! The Heavenly Demon Cult is only one of the two demonic cults of our time. And this group is the real deal that worships fiends. They are true fiend followers!”

Greater Ebony, Greater Clarity, Astral Eminence, Sacred Dragon, Heavenly Divine and True Fiend. Those were the six main cults of the Northblack Sacrifice Continent. The Greater Ebony Cult, also known as the Greater Ebony Central Tianshu Cult, has ancient and mysterious origins. They followed the Heavenly Dao and never appeared before people with whom they don’t have fateful ties. The cult was spread across the various continents, all originating independently from an ancient immortal of days past.

The Astral Eminence Cult represented the majority faith of the southern regions of the Northblack Sacrifice Continent. Their theories of destiny and astrology were popular even within Grand Chen. The Sacred Dragon Cult, on the other hand, was more prevalent near the northeast of Grand Chen and the islands of North Ocean. It was a faith founded by the True Dragon Royal Court. As the Dragon Master had once taught the ways of the dao to the Martial Emperor of Grand Chen, the Sacred Dragon Cult had many followers in Grand Chen as well and had close relations with the imperial court.[1]

As for the latter two, ”Heavenly Divine” was the Heavenly Demon Cult’s preferred name. They were the treacherous and heretical cult that drew no clear lines in the sand. Though its adherents worshiped deities of the Imperial Sky and Imperial Earth, embracing the principles they embodied, they had a completely different conception of the rules unlike the sticklers of the Greater Ebony Cult. They were willing to do anything to achieve their goals regardless of the cost and even borrowed the power of heavenly fiends. Order, virtue and even their own lives meant nothing in the face of their desires.

While the Heavenly Demon Cult seemed to be the chief evil in the human realm, they were outdone by another cult: the True Fiend Cult. The only thing they did worse than the Heavenly Demon Cult was their worship of heavenly fiends, much like what Lu Jin was doing.

As he recited his cursed chants, the half-dead bodies in the room raised their heads and howled. Their voices resounded throughout the hidden chamber nonstop. The hatred and agony that they had experienced seemed to layer upon one another countless times to the point that it opened some sort of pathway out of which a shadowy figure emerged. It superimposed itself onto the idol, giving it eyes that shone with gloom and darkness.

Lu Jin stopped all movement. His soul seemed to be taken from him before he began to speak with himself. ”Yes, Esteemed Lord. We have taken three of the eight major terrestrial-vein nodes. We weren’t able to take over the nodes of the administrative bureau, prison, martial academy, workshop and that teahouse. But all we need is one last node, nay, half of it, to be able to cause blowback through the terrestrial veins to kill the mandated official, Zheng Mo. By then, the hundreds of thousands of citizens of Keensight will become our blood sacrifice to you!”

All of a sudden, Lu Jin screamed and cried as he punched himself uncontrollably. With a pleading voice, he said, ”Ah! I’ve lied... I’ve lied! It was my mistake! I shouldn’t have kept quiet about it! I also built a blood-sacrifice formation on my own to refine vigor medicine to extend my lifespan! I shouldn’t have kept it hidden! Aaaaagh!”

Then, everything returned to normal. Lu Jin no longer cried and stopped punching himself. ”That’s right. So far, we haven’t located our target. The terrestrial veins don’t seem active either. The one with black sclera and gold irises has not been detected. I believe they’re not nearby.”

The tears he had cried earlier trickled down his wrinkled face in an eerily smooth motion. ”That’s correct. I will sacrifice countless souls to corrupt the terrestrial veins and use the flow of power within them to sweep the area to locate the target.”

Lu Jin’s voice softened to a mutter. Right before the ceremony ended, however, he suddenly raised his voice and screamed. ”What?!”

He prostrated himself before the idol. ”Million thanks, Esteemed Lord! I thank thee for thy gracious gift!”

The four half-dead bodies withered rapidly and turned into ash and bone, falling to the ground. Then, a stream of black-red light emerged from the sacrificial victims and formed large diagrams in the air before they flooded into Lu Jin’s head.

In that instant, Lu Jin’s wrinkles faded away. A youthful flush returned to his complexion. He seemed to de-age some ten or twenty years. Then, the eyes on the figure vanished completely.

Lu Jin remained prostrated for half an hour before rising. His body was filled with youthful vigor, pulsing with qi essence. There even seemed to be a faint rising smoke above his head. He had regained so much youth that his vigor was practically emanating from him!

He stood up straight and looked at his hands with awe, not saying a word, merely gripping his fists tight and releasing them again and again. Then, a hearty laugh escaped his throat. His eyes darkened just like when the heavenly fiend had descended upon that idol for the slightest moment before it returned to normal.

”Hahahahaha!” Though manic with joy, he continued to prostrate in worship to the idol for a bit more before leaving the secret chamber. Right as the lotus drone was about to leave, however, Yvelbane yelled for An Jing to halt.

”Wait a moment. I was ready for your drone to be discovered by the heavenly fiend and was prepared to cut off our connection. Yet, it didn’t appear to detect it, but that’s impossible! Abandon the drone. Don’t fly it back!”

”Alright.” An Jing never planned to take the drone back anyway. There was no way he would reclaim a drone that had been there to witness the interaction between a fiend follower and a heavenly fiend. He had been planning to pilot it away and make it self-destruct one way or another anyway.

Things turned out to be as Yvelbane feared. There was indeed an odd trace of fiend qi within the drone. The heavenly fiend had noticed something amiss but feigned ignorance in an attempt to locate the person that was spying on his follower. Once An Jing cut off the spirit connection and ensured the drone was shattered beyond recovery, he fell silent.

”Things are getting serious,” An Jing said, brow furrowed. ”It’s the blood ritual of the True Fiend Cult. I should’ve known that the area here has long been corrupted given how the Crimsonguard had been infiltrated by a heavenly fiend too. Heavenly fiends don’t typically have such huge appetites, but this one seems intent on taking advantage of the snow calamity to devour near a million people here at Keensight along with its terrestrial veins. As expected, they’re also targeting that princess...”

There was nothing left to ponder. An Jing exhaled deeply and said, ”Looks like we’ve been drawn into another clusterfuck. This time, they’re throwing in imperial blood as a bonus too.”

”I don’t think you’ve just been roped in. I think you’re one of the causes for all this,” Yvelbane surmised. ”Things don’t just coincidentally happen wherever you go. Things happen because of your existence itself.”

An Jing didn’t deny it and turned toward Honor Pavilion. ”New grudges and old hatreds keep finding opportunities for me to latch on.”

He couldn’t afford to be passive and had to take the initiative. That didn’t mean that he would rush in and kill the enemy. Even the True Fiend Cult didn’t send a large group of goons to swarm An Jing to capture him and make him a sacrifice. Both sides had to make their respective preparations, wait for the right opportunity, before striking out unrelentingly.

An Jing would be ready for all scenarios, even explosive ones. ”I will be buying some thunder beads.”

He crossed into Skysource without delay. Trying to outcompete me? I’ll show them what true firepower is made of!

1. ”Dragon Master” probably refers to the first mythological Chinese emperor called Fuxi (伏羲). The title was given in reference to the legend of a dragon horse that bore the map which was associated with him (龙马负图) and the tribal alliance management system he created that detailed positions and roles that were named after dragons. ☜