Destiny in Cinders

”Young Hero Jing, you really didn’t have to do all that...” Zheng Mo and An Jing left the central hub of the terrestrial veins together as the Keensight Bell continued to ring loudly. The official was truly satisfied with An Jing. Whatever the reason was and however much power the bell had already amassed on its own, the fact that An Jing could resonate with it to trigger a divine-armament breakthrough was a great merit all the same! Even if An Jing himself didn’t have anything to do with it and it was all luck, this still spoke volumes about An Jing’s talent in Void Embrace where luck and lifearcs were deeply intertwined.

”Don’t worry about it. I’m just doing what I should.” An Jing wasn’t that bothered by Zheng Mo’s exaggerated ass-kissing. His elaborate flattering of his talent and martial prowess wouldn’t shake An Jing that much since he already knew all that without being told. He was more concerned about what they would do next. ”City Manager Zheng, I believe I have to stay in Keensight somewhat longer to process the insights I’ve gained. During that time, some people from my tribe would want to come to Keensight to trade. I want to talk about the fee—”

Before An Jing finished, Zheng Mo immediately granted it. ”Consider it done! Young Hero Jing, feel free to stay in Keensight as long as you want! As for trade with your tribe, the only fee that needs to be paid is the basic toll fee at the entrance. All other taxes at the market are under my jurisdiction, so I’ll waive all of it!”

”I see. Thanks a lot.” All An Jing had wanted was to set up some minor benefits for his interworld trade. He didn’t expect to be granted so much leeway from the get-go.

Nurturing terrestrial-vein divine armaments was a core policy of Grand Chen which factored heavily into the evaluation of the local administration. In fact, it didn’t matter if the adept stationed at a city was bad at management, governing, trade or military matters. As long as they could ensure that the terrestrial veins were healthy and continued to refine the divine armament, they would be promoted and greatly rewarded.

It went without saying that Zheng Mo wasn’t considered an accomplished official, given how he didn’t really get involved in governing when Shu Zheng was around. He also left the Keensight Bell in the adept’s care. If not for Shu Zheng’s sudden death, he would’ve gone on living his lazy and relaxed life, eventually retiring or ”accidentally” dying and being replaced by a member of the demonic cult.

However, putting his performance during the assault of the True Fiend Cult aside, the fact that the Keensight Bell broke through while he was in charge was more than enough for him to get a commendation from the government of Huang Prefecture, and that would only be the start of it.

”What? The Keensight Bell broke through?” Overseer Cao had been drinking tea together with the prefect of Huang when he heard the ringing of the bell. Shocked, he said, ”Now of all times?”

”Not bad! Not bad indeed! The Keensight Bell finally advanced!” The other sage official was just as sensitive to the ripples of the terrestrial veins. The lusciously bearded Prefect Chen said, ”Shu Zheng did quite well back then. I thought that the Keensight Bell would’ve broken through under his watch. Yet, the heavenly fiends came knocking in tandem with the snow calamity. I thought the breakthrough of the Keensight Bell would be delayed by more than a decade after Shu Zheng’s death. Who knew that the city would experience another stroke of luck?”

”It’s all due to your fine governing, Brother Chen,” Overseer Cao congratulated. Even though he was an overseer from central and could throw his weight around minor local officials, he wasn’t that much of an enigma for powerhouses that ruled entire prefectures. Not to mention, they were all sages who reported to the divine capital, so there was no need to lord over one another. Forging good relations was far more preferable.

That was the unique aspect of officials of Grand Chen. Though their duties and statuses might differ, the power granted to them by heavenly and earthly mandates was the same. Anyone with the mandate of the same tier was considered an equal even if their official ranks differed, fostering amicable relationships.

”You played a huge part in it too, Overseer Cao. If you hadn’t protected Keensight, this wouldn’t have happened. Let us celebrate and drink our fill today! We shan’t return home sober!” Prefect Chen was quite happy about the divine-armament breakthrough. It was a decent addition to his career record. Given that Overseer Cao had also been involved, he deserved some of the benefits as well.

”Thank you for the kind words.” The overseer took another sip and thought of Jing Xuan, whom he had written a recommendation letter for. Don’t tell me that kid had something to do with this. Oh well, who cares? It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not going to bother to look for the princess. Let others pick up the trouble.

He had reported his failed mission to the Blackguard earlier. As he had expected, none of his superiors blamed him for it and merely gave some standard criticism. It wasn’t easy for an empire to nurture a Treasures Realm sage, so they couldn’t get rid of them without a very good reason. Not to mention, Overseer Cao did render other merits despite failing his mission, so punishing him was out of the question.

Zheng Mo made a report about the divine-armament breakthrough, bringing up the name of Jing Xuan time and again. Even though nobody credited Jing Xuan for the breakthrough of the Keensight Bell apart from Zheng Mo’s initial report (even An Jing himself knew that the divine armament had already gathered enough power on its own and only needed to be given a final push), it was still a big deal that Jing Xuan entered the empire’s sights one way or another.

All of Huang Prefecture learned of the Dustdawner youth that was lucky enough to be allowed to observe the Keensight Bell when it broke through. If they looked deeper into it, they would learn that Jing Xuan was a disciple of a sage from the five mountains of Dustdawn who had also rendered merit through his brave acts during the chaos in Keensight.

Once Overseer Cao finished his own report and sent it to his superiors, the identity of Dustdawner Jing Xuan would be properly filed under the folder relating to Sage Mystic Mirror of Voidsight Mountain and labeled as friendly to the empire.

”Interesting... I recall that Zheng Mo was nothing more than a pathetic slob during Shu Zheng’s guardianship of Keensight. It looks like dangers and trials temper everyone. I suppose nobody who’s capable of earning an imperial commendation to become an officer is truly useless,” Prefect Chen said, returning to his duties once Overseer Cao left.

”The True Fiend Cult really are a handful. They would’ve caused lots of trouble if things had gone slightly differently.” The stern and bulky prefect pondered in deep thought before he took out a talisman. ”Hello? Inspector Lin, the Keensight Bell has broken through. It appears that our deal is void.”

”That won’t do, Lord Chen!” exclaimed a woman’s voice coming from the talisman. ”The Keensight Bell has been under our care the whole time! We were the ones who nurtured it to the point of a breakthrough. Even though Little Shu is dead, shouldn’t you have waited until we sent another adept there to claim the credit?”

”The recent rapid developments caused the plan to fall through. I’m quite saddened about Little Shu’s death too. I really had high hopes for him.” The prefect laughed like a lion, appearing more savage and sinister than joyful. ”You guys at the Heavenly Divine Cult had been winning the whole time. It’s about time you took this loss with us. Naturally, after so many years of cooperation, I will not let you guys suffer too much for this. Inspector Lin, you are aware too that the True Fiend Cult has infiltrated quite a lot of the Dustdawner tribes, which isn’t good for either of us. I also know that most of your forces are concentrated where the northern barbarians are. That’s why I’m curious whether you would be interested in helping us establish a trade route at the northwestern border region.”

”Oh, you’re starting to sound rather generous,” the voice said, pleasantly surprised. ”Don’t tell me it’s time for me to congratulate you.”

”Haha, no, not yet. It’s just that things at Hanhai aren’t going too well. Old Gu is all alone and needs some support. It’s about time for an old veteran of the northern frontier like me to help him out. All I ask is that you make things easy for us when the time comes.”

The female voice chuckled. ”Well, you have always been a man of your word, Lord Overseer, so we will make sure to return the favor too. Since you are about to step out from your scholarly post back into the martial fold, I wish you the best of fortunes. May you be appointed as a general at the divine capital one day!”

These people with their lofty vantage points temporarily turned their attention away from Keensight, giving An Jing and the rest a period of peace.