Destiny in Cinders

”You don’t need to come. I can take care of this myself,” An Jing said. He might be faced with much stronger foes if he went against the True Fiend Cult, such as cultists who were possessed by heavenly fiends. So, he had to bring all the firepower he could, but that risked drawing the attention of others. So, he had to mask all the gear he was carrying with him somehow and have some hidden weapons people didn’t expect.

By cloaking himself with the bulletproof mantle and changing his presence, he would be practically unrecognizable. The weapons, however, were much harder to hide. His true weapon was the swordstaff that he assimilated into his body and his blood-lethal-qi sword from Qiform Arsenal. However, they were far too recognizable for his purposes.

So, he decided to use his abilities in tandem with normal-looking weapons as his main method of combat. The black iron blades of Skysource were made far better than most weapons in Void Embrace. When enhanced, they should be as powerful as artifacts. The alloy shield would have no issue blocking hidden projectile weapons or crossbow bolts since it was designed to block normal bullets and miniature sword-case projectiles. That should cover most of An Jing’s bases.

As for the handguns, thunder beads and other equipment, they were to be used on crowds of minions to minimize the use of the Iceburst and OverSight, reserving them for truly powerful targets. The silent rifle and sword case were also great for surprise first shots.

”Well, you’ll definitely succeed, whatever it is you’re planning,” Huo Qing said after he packed the equipment together. But before An Jing left with the goods, he shook his head and said, ”I still want you to know that you can get me to come just with a word. Don’t go up against a whole group alone if you can help it. Call on helpers if you can. They’ll at least draw attention away from you.”

”I will if I need to.” An Jing was reminded of the fact that he could always make a report to the authorities. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to file the report himself. After all, many of them must be subsumed by the True Fiend Cult in one way or another, at least those of lower rank.

Had Shu Zheng still been around, Keensight would’ve remained the centipede-infested lair of the Heavenly Demon Cult. But the centipedes had left their nest, leaving it empty for the cockroaches to take over. Fiend followers were all over the place.

Making a report himself was pointless and would alert Honor Pavilion about his plans. They would even come after him. Most crucially, he needed proof that the ones who had infiltrated the city were members of the True Fiend Cult rather than the Heavenly Demon Cult.

It seems like I need to think of a plan to bait the True Fiend Cult to come after me.My fight with them will alert the city manager, which should prevent the terrestrial veins from falling to the True Fiend Cult’s control easily even when much of the authorities have been infiltrated. It’ll also divert the fiend followers away from carrying out their duties, which will aid me when I eventually kill Honor Pavilion’s leader.

An Jing focused on planning while Huo Qing helped him prepare for it. When Huo Qing left the warehouse with his ammunition and thunder beads, he also brought him an inner armor piece.

”It’s a bulletproof spirit vest,” Huo Qing said, demonstrating how to wear it. ”It won’t be able to take attacks that are too powerful, but it’s part of many layers of protection that you’re wearing. Most importantly, it’s lightweight and won’t impede your movements.”

”Nice...” An Jing inspected the black vest with some surprise. ”This cost quite a lot, though.”

Lightweight spirit vests like that cost around a hundred to two hundred merits. Ones made from better material could cost more than three hundred. The one Huo Qing gave away was probably something Metalhand had prepared for the youth in his care. It was a little large for An Jing, but it worked just as well.

An Jing received it and earnestly said, ”I’ll accept your goodwill, then.”

Huo Qing waved him off. ”Just make sure to come back alive.”

Their relationship was one that didn’t require many words. Once the spirit-qi crucible was charged up, An Jing left the junkyard and silently returned to Void Embrace. The sooner he returned, the quicker the cooldown of the Grandvoid Pathway could begin. An Jing wanted to attack the True Fiend Cult soon, so he hadn’t planned to stay in Skysource for long.

He hid all the equipment he brought in his luggage pile in the teahouse and left the building. Silvery snowflakes fell from the sky, causing snow to pile up. It was dawn at the city of Keensight. A hint of dawnlight could be seen staining the clouds above, but the rest of the city was still dark as night.

The snow calamity came closer and closer. However, An Jing didn’t fear the familiar cold breeze. He had learned many martial techniques and was armed with powerful artifacts, so he did not cower before nature. There was no way he would falter against the followers of the True Fiend Cult either.

But just as he was about to leave to check on Honor Pavilion, he turned back to look at the teahouse. A veiled girl opened the main entrance and stood before him. She appeared really slender and rather short, standing only as tall as An Jing’s upper torso. However, it was clear that this was due to her young age.

The girl had a head of waist-long, raven-black hair that looked ebony in contrast with the piling snow. What caught the eye even more were her eyes. Normal eyes had white sclera and black-to-dark-brown irises. Occasionally, people with ancient bloodlines or mixed fey blood had varying eye colors, but most of the eyeball was still white. This girl, however, had eyeballs that were pitch black, save for the irises at the center that shone golden with wondrous power. Her ebony eyes twinkled with golden sunlight. This was her imperial-blood wonder, her Ebony Sun Eyes.

”Nice to meet you,” she said as she tugged her shirt nervously. She calmed down when An Jing turned around. ”There is something... I need to talk to you about.”

”You’re that person that the madam wishes to hide,” An Jing said after observing her. ”Why did you come out?”

”I... I talked to the madam and she said that you already sensed my presence.” She paused for a moment in silence. ”The madam said it’s fine and that you’re a good person who’ll pretend not to notice anything.”

Her voice sounded like the song of a nightingale in the tranquil mountains, anything but common. Yvelbane, who typically didn’t show interest in the people An Jing interacted with, gave her its full attention. ”That voice... An immortal voice? An Jing, this girl might have some kind of immortal or divine bloodline. She’s born with wonders, one of which might be Grand Immortal Voice.”

”I see.” An Jing sighed. From the moment the girl had shown herself, he sorted through the information he had gathered in his mind and guessed her true identity. She had imperial blood. She was the one that both the authorities and the True Fiend Cult wanted to locate!