Destiny in Cinders

The dead flamecrows looked like stronger ember ravens. Those two types of fey could be considered to be of the same species. Flamecrows were more developed ember ravens that managed to nurture qi essence within themselves, which allowed them to tap into the potential that was already present in their bloodlines and morph into flamecrows. Flamecrows were physically much stronger and had a certain degree of intelligence. They could also cast spells, which was why they were classified as feys.

These fey beasts of Sunset Ocean experienced rapid growth in recent times to the point that Deepnight City’s expedition bureau had to issue a fifty-merit bounty per flamecrow. But as each flamecrow was guarded by tens of ember ravens, that meant that one had to eradicate close to a hundred ember ravens to be able to kill a flamecrow for the bounty.

”The feathers of flamecrows can be used as materials for fire-aspect talismans or as a formation base for fire-aspect formations,” Huo Qing explained as he examined the carcasses. ”Let me buy these flamecrows off—”

”Hey, stop being a stranger,” An Jing said. ”You also contributed to the fight, so you’re entitled to the spoils too. We’re already partners who are going to buy some property together. You should take my share as well. As for Miss You...”

You Ruhui shook her head and said, ”I already freeloaded at your place without any payment, so please take my share too.”

”Alright.” Huo Qing scratched his head with some embarrassment but he didn’t refuse it outright. ”I have to experiment with formations if I’m to improve, so having more materials would definitely be a great help. I’ll be able to study them more intricately through trial and error! If you need me to set up formations in the future, come to me! I’ll do it for the cost price!”

After Huo Qing packed up the carcasses of the flamecrows, they continued on their way. Fey attacks were quite common at Hilltwixt. An Jing and the rest saw quite a few fey carcasses along the way as they drove across the plains. Naturally, they had already been stripped of their valuables such as the skin and bones. Only worthless scraps remained, and even then, one could tell how many fey beasts had fallen across the many attacks. Their blood seeped so deeply into the land across many years, making the land quite bountiful with blood lethal qi. The deep-red blood-dyed soil could be refined into a blood-lethal-qi-rich spirit item called battle soil.

An Jing’s body felt rather pleasant as he traveled across the land. However, some doubts still gnawed at him. ”Is the reason the feys keep attacking this place the terrestrial veins or the mines?”

Huo Qing said, ”It is the spirit-ore veins, no doubt. Apart from sinkcrystals, this place also produces quite a few other types of minerals. Ember earth is said to attract ember ravens and flamecrows. It’s a spirit item of the fire and earth aspects. Deeper down the mines, one can find evermelt metal, a grade-one spirit item of the fire and metal aspects. These spirit items are to feys like salt is to humans. We need some of it, but consuming too much causes problems. Not consuming any also causes problems. If their lairs run low on these things for all the feys they house, those that aren’t able to procure any would leave their lairs to attack convoys or even settlements for them.”

Spirit item grades were like fey grades. Ungraded items corresponded to Spirit Awakening, grade one corresponded to Qi Refinement and grade two corresponded to Foundation Building. Foundation feys were also called great feys, which were capable of easily causing rampages in the wilderness. The safe zone, however, was under no threat from feys weaker than grade three, meaning those that were weaker than Purple-Mansion-equivalent crown feys.

The ravens and crows that attacked Hilltwixt might seem threatening, but only a single great fey was among them. It was no surprise that Huo Qing wasn’t the least bit concerned and even wanted to stick around and watch.

The closer they got to Hilltwixt, the more satisfied An Jing was with the area. Countless battles truly had taken place across the land. There were even terrestrial veins of the metal and flame aspects, which were perfect to nourish his two lifestars, Pyrestar and Evenstar. As far as he was aware, he had only truly grasped mastery over the Pyrestar himself, whereas Yvelbane was the one who had helped him grasp the Evenstar. Each lifestar corresponded to one ability. Qiform Arsenal arose from the Pyrestar whereas the Evenstar’s ability had yet to awaken. Perhaps this land’s unique metal-forging properties can help me awaken the Evenstar’s ability.

Eventually, they reached the entrance of Hilltwixt after passing by many a fey carcass. Huo Qing used his chip to scan and quickly identified himself, causing the cannons on the walls to point away from their vehicle. Then, the gears of the gates began to turn, opening the town up for them to enter.

The first thing they saw was a vast road that could fit four massive trucks in parallel. However, it was devoid of vehicles just like how the town was devoid of people. There was only the smell of ionized smoke in the air.

At the very end of the road was a majestic tower that stood tall at the town’s center, constructed of alloys and stretching high into the firmament. It looked like a rod that a massive deity would use to fish up lightning bolts. This was the Grand Neon Tower, the core of Hilltwixt’s defensive formation.

”How impressive,” An Jing said after getting out of the car. ”Only, it kinda looks like some abandoned ruin given how empty the whole town is.”

It would be a lie to say that there was nothing at all moving across town. There were quite a few automata that were cleaning the streets and moving goods around. There were also some armored technicians who supervised the operations around the area.

”What do we do next?” An Jing asked.

Huo Qing’s eyes stopped flashing when he said, ”I just tried to contact the person in charge from Ocher Hill. He didn’t pick up the call.”

”Guess we’ll have to wait for a bit,” An Jing said, not in a rush at all.

Before he could get Huo Qing to drive them around town for a look and have You Ruhui inspect the terrestrial veins, however, he heard someone say, ”Oh? You lot are quite strong. Why did you brats come here?”

An Jing looked up and saw a squad of elite soldiers donned in spirit armor. They were changing shifts with the other soldiers at the fortified walls. They saw the fey carcasses and laughed.

”I didn’t think you kids would manage to pick up some of our spoils. This is called embezzlement, you know. We were the ones who took these out, so we have a claim to it too!”

Huo Qing and You Ruhui tensed up alertly at the troublemakers. However, An Jing didn’t seem to mind. His past-life awareness seemed to tell him that things were fine. That was simply some banter from foul-mouthed veterans. An Jing had teased newbies in his past life with the exact same tone.

”Gentlemen, if you’re able to recommend me to join one of your companies, I’d be all too happy to treat you to a nice drink,” An Jing said with a bright tone. ”I wonder if any of you have any such lucrative opportunities for me?”

”Hahaha! Dream on!” The soldier motioned for An Jing and the rest to leave. ”Those of us here don’t even have official ranks yet and you want us to get you into a company? Alright, you should leave quickly. More feys might attack soon. When defensive efforts resume, no human traffic will be permitted!”