Destiny in Cinders

The arcane corpus Ming Guangchen had sent to An Jing was the result of an ability. A single tap on An Jing’s forehead was what he needed to turn into a stream of qi that entered the spot between An Jing’s eyebrows. After that, a golden glow spread out across his entire body.

”I don’t have any extra power to be of help to you,” Ming Guangchen said, beaming his voice directly into An Jing’s mind. ”In this Mirror Me arcane corpus of mine is a Hexsun Formation that’s formed by the power of my five full wonders. It’s enough to handle normal adepts, but not late-stage adepts from large sects. Still, if we couple it with your own power, we might be able to buy some time against one or two powerful adepts.”

The void altar had already activated, gathering green and silver light. A straight silver line on the star-chart projection could be seen extending toward the northern frontier.

”There’s no need for you to defeat those people. An Jing, just hold on until the void altar finishes charging up. That’ll transfer you to North Han and the void altar will self-destruct without leaving any traces.”

”The power I now feel...” An Jing sensed a stream of warm energy within his body. It didn’t assimilate fully into his flesh. Rather, it was an independent source of wonder power that he could use as he pleased. They were all of Ming Guangchen’s wonders, namely, Ocular Blaze, Brightmirror Heart, Frostmercury Blood, Visceral Cycle and Sharp Psychic Intent.

”This is the reason Mirror Me is the grand ability of the Brightmirror Sect,” Ming Guangchen said with a hint of laughter. ”I’m able to partition a part of my power for you to experience temporarily. This applies to both my wonders and other capabilities. In other words, as long as we have Mirror Me, it’s impossible for any of the Brightmirror Sect’s teachings to be lost to time.

”Granted, this only applies to surface-level capabilities. I’m not able to build your internal foundations for you. I’m able to pass on our legacies quickly, but I can’t forge you into a proper elite fighter.

”Also, doing this is typically forbidden unless the sect is in grave danger because experiencing power too great when one isn’t ready for it risks limiting the breadth of one’s martial path. Unconsciously, people who’ve experienced this state in Mirror Me end up trying to recreate what they felt exactly, squandering their original potential and ending up as nothing more than a vessel for the legacy, an echo of the original. However, I believe you won’t succumb to this.”

”It’s just what I need, Master.” An Jing felt the power pulsing from within him. Yvelbane also seemed more active as a result. He sensed how the set of five wonders felt and gripped his fists. Laughing heartily, he said, ”After experiencing your demonstration, I’m certain that I can become stronger than you!”

”Good!” Ming Guangchen wasn’t the least bit surprised by the arrogant proclamation. ”Alright, I’ll have to go fight my own fight. Take care!”

Ming Guangchen’s voice disappeared, leaving behind only the echo of Mirror Me’s power fully in An Jing’s control. The instant that happened, An Jing felt the power of his soul surge like an erupting volcano. If not for his mastery of Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal and regulation provided by Heaven’s Child Art, he would have suffered some internal injuries from the sudden surge. Even if that had happened, he could quickly use this power to recover, but that would only waste more precious power he could use in the upcoming battle.

”I see... So this is Ocular Blaze...” An Jing stood on the spot and surrendered himself gradually to the power, feeling every single detail. ”The essence of the Brightmirror Sect’s Ocular Blaze is illumination! It illuminates the world far and wide with the sheer power of the mind! This is the true meaning of the insight Venerated Voidsight gained from the Brightsky Mirror Grand Dao Artifact!”

Apart from that, An Jing also paid close attention to Brightmirror Heart. ”Brightmirror Heart manifests in countless different profound forms. The one that my master gained insight into is ’Return!’”

As the core wonder of the Brightmirror Sect, Brightmirror Heart’s profound essence differed depending on the person that manifested it. Ming Guangchen had tapped into the essence of Return. Those who return shall ever rise again through the cycles! In effect, it allowed Ming Guangchen’s Brightmirror Heart to resonate in a nonstop cycle, layering spirit qi again and again just like a corridor of infinity created by two mirrors that reflected each other.

Even though Sage Mystic Mirror’s hexsun light started off as a dim spark that mirrored the blind child’s lifearc, Unshining Sun and Moon, the constant amplified reactions of his indomitable spirit that returned again and again turned the spark into six blazing suns in the sky!

As for the other two wonders, Visceral Cycle and Frostmercury Blood, all they did was maintain the circulation of spirit qi. Sharp Psychic Intent, on the other hand, was the formation eye that helped focus and project the hexsun light within the heart.

With Sharp Psychic Intent as the formation eye, Brightmirror Heart as the foundational core and the other wonders as support, Ming Guangchen had established the fundamental formation diagram of Hexsun Mystic Mirror. This was Ming Guangchen’s dao!

”Even though it isn’t my dao, it’s enough for now!” An Jing immediately comprehended the choices Ming Guangchen had made for the direction he wished to cultivate in. This was how the Brightmirror Sect was able to pass on their legacies across generations, evolving from a skewed sect that only had a single venerated to a proper intermediate sect that paled only to upper sects in comparison. Having this grand ability allowed one to see the clearest reflection in the mirror. One only had to follow its path.

An Jing shut his eyes in meditation with his back facing the void altar as he regulated the qi within his body, waiting for his enemies to arrive.

At the same time, the evacuation of Keensight was ongoing. The staff of Blessed Virtue Ruin had felt that something was off the moment An Jing left the ruins of the restaurant and immediately packed up whatever food or wealth they could find before leaving Keensight. The citizens that lived on the same street also understood the evacuation order and quickly took their leave.

Only two figures remained on the streets, observing the situation. They had pushed apart the massive beam of the restaurant building as if they were sweeping dust off a table, revealing the many bloodied corpses underneath the rubble. Manipulating the spirit qi in the environment according to one’s will with ease was something only adepts of the Hundred Meridians Clearing Realm were capable of.

The more slender one among the two was covered in odd, blue tattoos. Though he had a dark face, it wasn’t the same as the complexion of a farmer that worked hard under the sun. Instead, his skin was black and smooth like jade, not having even a single hair follicle. It was as if it was made from inorganic material. This man was inspecting every single corpse or pile of remains he could find. Then, he tapped a finger on the corpses’ head, closing his eyes as if he was sensing something.

The other burly man was studying the spot where the bald martialist of the Poolsea Sect had exploded, scrutinizing every chunk of flesh. He picked through the messy corpse with his fingers, only for a trace of metal-aspect lightning to crackle and attempt to cut his fingers. All of a sudden, a moist mist appeared and caused the bolt to fizzle out.

”Interesting... This is a nonstandard lightning art. It’s definitely not something the Brightmirror Sect would use.” The burly man rubbed his thumb and index finger together as he nodded in thought. ”It seems like Sage Mystic Mirror has found a talented youth to take as his disciple. He’s quite lucky, truly. He gets all the best disciples and fortuitous encounters...”

”There’s also signs of a powerful body reinforcement technique,” said the slender man after he stopped sensing the echoes of the corpses’ souls. His voice sounded old, yet monotone, as if he felt no emotion at all. ”He used nothing but brute force to crush my sect’s Thousand Minds Falcon Formation in a single strike. Since when did the Brightmirror Sect practice body refinement? If not for the trace of radiant-sun energy, I would’ve believed that our martialists found the wrong target.”

”What do you think?” The burly man was an adept of the Poolsea Sect, Ocean Domination Blade Bo Zongshan. ”Should we look for clues about the princess of Grand Chen or kill that promising young lad that inherited the core teachings of the Brightmirror Sect first?”

A flash of light poured out of the squinting eyes of the adept of the Seated Mirage Sect, Heartsword Fu Zhengan. ”Let’s look for the little commanderial princess first. Once Sage Mystic Mirror is dead, we’d be able to have fun with his disciple however we like. It’d be a waste to grant him an easy death.”