Destiny in Cinders

”Even then, you should be careful. Olden Heavenly Father of the Imperial Sky... Are you asleep? How are heavenly fiends able to use such a thing?” Yvelbane lamented despite An Jing’s optimism.

An Jing didn’t really find it surprising, however. ”If heavenly fiends can usurp lifearcs, why wouldn’t they be able to use nether techniques? Then again, heavenly fiends of the present day also seem quite susceptible to nether attacks. I recall that Sage Mystic Mirror’s yang powers seemed quite effective on heavenly fiends. That shouldn’t be the case for typical heavenly fiends, right?”

”That’s true,” Yvelbane said with some doubt at that realization. ”Back in our time, only specially developed fiendslaying techniques, brute force or the heavenly fiends’ own powers worked on them. Only fiendslaying weapons made using fiend materials have the potential to suck up their essence and wipe them out completely. It appears that while heavenly fiends have since gained many capabilities I’m unaware of, some familiar methods still work against them.”

Silent Call Divine Descent was the most complex and difficult art in the Soul Domination Mantra. Neither You Ruhui nor Huo Qing would be able to master it anytime soon. But the intermediate section of the mantra contained the Nether Soul Nourishment Formation, a common-use formation that could be used to nourish one’s own soul, temper dead souls and also worked well for collecting qi. There was no better formation to use for the secluded cultivation room An Jing wanted to build.

”Ah? Me? This formation?” Huo Qing immediately felt dumbfounded when he received the jade slip with the formation saved within. He wondered how powerful the underground cult An Jing was from to have an arcanum formation like that. Did An Jing just hand me the true legacy of his cult? But why? Is he trying to induct me into it? Wait... Can I really master it? Mastering a formation arcanum? Isn’t that a bit too fast? Maybe I should start small from a minor water spirit formation...

”You can do it!” An Jing said, confident in Huo Qing’s capabilities. ”Well, I’m not expecting you to set up this formation right away. There are many details about the fundamentals within, including the three foundational formations of minor qi collection, minor yin collection and minor qi deposition. They’re only slightly more difficult than your minor formations of the five phases. You’ll definitely be able to master them. Not to mention, the frameworks of these formations should differ from those in your textbooks, so I’ve no doubt that they’d help broaden your thinking about formations. Doing so would be really helpful for your future!”

An Jing only handed over material related to the Nether Soul Nourishment Formation as he was worried that Huo Qing wouldn’t accept anything more than that. Not to mention, he wasn’t sure if the heavenly fiends had tampered with the rest of the stuff in the Soul Domination Mantra.

Yvelbane also threw in some additional material that covered formationist basics. The reason it even knew that kind of thing, according to it, was that sword formations were formations too. Its familiarity with sword formations allowed it to understand some of the basic principles expounded in the Soul Domination Mantra.

An Jing had seen the formation diagrams that Huo Qing used in his studies and they only seemed like the most basic minor formations for aspects of the five phases, namely, metal, earth, fire, water and wood. There was nothing on yin or yang formations, lightning formations or soul-nourishment formations.

Anything more complicated and specialized wasn’t something one could learn for free from academies. Those that had access to them were people with private legacies from major factions.

Even Metalhand’s formation was just a variation of a wood-aspect formation. Though it was intricate, it was far from what others would call unique. Though that was the limit of most civilian formationists, it was more than enough to earn a living with. This was Huo Qing’s goal, but An Jing had far higher hopes for him.

The jade slip contained formation patterns and theories. They were a mix of Yvelbane’s own understanding as an immortal being from ancient times and the Sovereign Nether Divinity’s (the one who penned the Soul Domination Mantra). Huo Qing could use them to supplement the inadequacies of his basic formation knowledge and ensure that he made smooth progress without taking unnecessary detours.

”You are talented and hardworking, Huo Qing. The reason I’m giving these formation teachings to you isn’t just because of the help you’ve offered me. It’s also because I see a bright future for you,” An Jing said, not holding anything back. ”You are a body refiner, one without a special affinity for any aspect. That’s why it’d be difficult for you to practice formations that are based on aspects of the five phases.

”Instead, you should focus your efforts on soul-related formations to strengthen your vitality. By then, whether you choose to return to the path of a martialist or esotericist, you’d be able to pair them with formation arts to have a more holistic setup. I can also trouble you to help me with matters related to formations. You know how busy I am with the martial path, so I can’t afford to look into formations for now. I have no choice but to depend on you.”

”I will do my best!” Huo Qing no longer felt bad about receiving the jade slip. ”Brother An, I will not disappoint you.”

He immediately began to digest the information in the jade slip after sitting down. An Jing truly admired his passion for cultivation.

”Ruhui, this is for you.” An Jing handed an identical jade slip to her.

She wasn’t expecting to be spoiled out of nowhere. ”Oh, something for me? But this... Even though I know something about formations, most of them are geomancy arcana...”

You Ruhui was quite the accomplished formationist from how she could set up ad-hoc altars to control the terrestrial veins of Keensight. Being able to do it on the fly meant that she could use her formation disc to deploy formations to counter those laid by others. That alone already qualified her as a proper formationist.

Even members of the imperial bloodline would struggle to use their innate gift to control terrestrial veins without the talent and instinct to match. That was precisely the reason You Ruhui needed to study even more so that she could tap into her imperial blood’s full potential.

”It doesn’t hurt to learn it anyway.” An Jing wasn’t expecting her to return the favor. Instead, this was his way of splitting the spoils from Keensight after she had helped him stop the rampaging terrestrial veins. The spirit items he got from the raid weren’t easy to distribute and she wouldn’t need the fist techniques from Lu Jin either. The only thing she could benefit from was the Soul Domination Mantra.

With all that done, An Jing began to cultivate by trying to form his arcane seal while Huo Qing and You Ruhui busied themselves with reading. All the while, Madam Huai continued to nurture the lifevessel.

Thanks to heaven purification radiance, An Jing should be able to finish manifesting his fourth seal in five days. He decided to make use of whatever time he had left in Skysource since they wouldn’t have that much time to meditate quietly once they went back to Void Embrace.

Half a day passed and it was soon the deep of night. After bidding goodbye to Huo Qing, who seemed unwilling to see them go, An Jing and the others would once more return to their home world.