Destiny in Cinders

”Grand destruction sword intent, huh? It sounds quite amazing,” An Jing said. Even though he hadn’t seen the fight clearly, the mysterious swordsman had indeed used it against Ming Guangchen, pushing him into a corner to the point he couldn’t quite fight back. Even after Ming Guangchen’s breakthrough, the mysterious swordsman still managed to make the divine sword self-destruct, forcing him to use a forbidden void art in a suicidal manner to take down the mysterious swordsman with him.

Given that An Jing’s Seven Ruins Arc was naturally inclined toward yin, yang and the five phases, he was capable of grasping the aspects contained in the true intent. With how compatible the sword intent of destruction was with Seven Ruins Tribulation and Trueblitz Pentaphase Infusion, he might have quite the easy time picking it up.

”Then again, lightning-aspect spirit items aren’t the easiest to come by...” An Jing did fulfill the preliminary requirements well, but the practicality of such an approach left him rather troubled. ”I do have quite a bit of money now thanks to the trades, so getting a typical lightning-aspect spirit item shouldn’t be hard. But can I really buy one high enough grade to contain the destructive five-phase sword intent?”

”It won’t be easy, but it’s hardly urgent,” Yvelbane said, still analyzing the shard of the divine sword. It stayed silent for the most part unless it had one or two short remarks to say. ”Analyzing and cracking this will take some time anyway. You should just focus on your cultivation for now. At most, this five-phase five-lightning true intent requires spirit qi of all aspects of the five phases, which means it consumes five times the amount of spirit qi than a typical ability. Even a genius like you with the cultivation of a one-wonder Fortification Realm martialist and a Qi Refinement initiate won’t be able to activate it.”

”I see. It’s impressive indeed. So this is what the power of a divine armament forged during Void Embrace’s antiquity is like, huh?”

As Yvelbane delved into the structure of the divine sword, it couldn’t help but say, ”Ah, it isn’t just typical ritual refinement. In fact, it’s linked with the numinosity and vivency of the cultivator. What makes a divine armament of the martial path unique is how it’s like a formation disc, in other words, a miniature world.”

”What do you mean by that?” An Jing asked curiously, though Yvelbane didn’t reply. Instead, it activated its sword sight for An Jing and aligned both their vision on the shard of the divine sword.

Deep within the semi-translucent jade material, they could see streams of light. Unlike the material that An Jing had imagined it to be, the shard was made from many tiny spirit particles that formed a base, on which a major formation was laid. The forces of electricity and magnetism filled the formation, stabilizing the material by forming a nigh-indestructible shell around the spirit particles.

The spirit particles underneath the shell circulated nonstop according to the flow dictated by the formation within, creating a microcosm filled with septenary metal lightning, tertiary fire lightning, primary wood wind lightning and many other varieties. All of them formed many distinct arcane seals. The shard wasn’t a metal object, but rather, a miniature world of different types of lightning made solid! The divine sword itself had actually been a sword-shaped lightning formation disc.

”Fascinating!” An Jing’s eyes widened with awe. Back when he first resonated with the Keensight Bell and helped it break through, he was already more than impressed by the nature of divine armaments. Seeing the shard of what used to be a divine armament that was just at the edge of becoming a Pure Yang celestial armament gave him a much deeper understanding of Void Embrace’s artifact refinement techniques. ”It feels much more powerful than typical arcane relics!”𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

”It’s not simply a matter of power. Instead, it’s a completely different design paradigm,” Yvelbane said. ”Divine armaments and artifacts in our time were made to be used with specific techniques. Every legacy has its own distinct technique or capability, and equipment was made to bring out the full potential of that specific power or to make up for its weaknesses.

”For instance, Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal’s exclusive arcane relic is called Ivory Comet. Its function is simple: to push one’s speed to the maximum. Using its power, cultivators of Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal will be able to move their bodies at speeds rivaling celestial swords, enabling them to unleash maximum destructive potential.

”Divine armaments of Void Embrace, on the other hand, are living formations first and artifacts second! They aren’t meant to be paired with specific techniques. Instead, they’re made to interface with the environment, heaven and earth, in other words, the internal formation world of the martialist!

”If my guess is right, the internal formation worlds of most martialists in Void Embrace are not capable of self-sustenance because they’re unable to gather the five phases and trigger a mutually generative cycle, nor hold both yin and yang in balance. That’s why they need an external source of energy in the form of divine armaments to complement their internal formation worlds and make up for what they lack.

”For instance, your master’s lifearc, Unshining Sun and Moon, fundamentally uses ebony abyss qi. That’s why his vital-origin ability armament, Hexsun Mystic Mirror, manifests as a powerful yang-aspect divine armament to complement his internal formation world, completing the cycle and generating a constant stream of power far exceeding the capacities other people can use.”

An Jing finally understood it all. Nobody in this world could do everything on their own. Even powerful immortal cultivators and martialists had their limits. While Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal seemed invincible when it came to offense and defense, it had limited mobility. As such, this weakness had to be patched up with an arcane relic or divine armament that complemented it.

”Are you saying that I can use this blade, Ocean Domination, to make up for what I lack?” He looked at the blade curiously.

Yvelbane wagged its hilt and said, ”It’s more accurate to say that you can use it to augment the way you apply force. It’s just an artifact weapon, after all. Only divine armaments can make up for what you truly lack.”

”But I won’t be lacking anything in the future, right? I mean, once I awaken all Seven Luminaries, I’ll have the aspects of yin, yang and the five phases in my body. How should I forge a divine armament that suits me, then? What kind of divine armament can complement me?”

”That’s simple. Haven’t you already been forging it?” Yvelbane said. ”Even though it’s just a coincidence, your Culling is a qi armament that’s manifested from your body in a manner similar to how divine armaments are forged. It’s able to collect the essence of other martialists and their weapons to build itself up to a divine armament that matches what your body needs the best.

”It’s just that you haven’t even reached the Clearing Realm yet. So, your internal body formation isn’t complete. That’s why the qi armament’s growth isn’t obvious to you. Once you are firmly in the Clearing Realm and form a prototype formation in your body, you’ll be able to hone Culling nonstop within your body. In other words, it’s a formless vital-origin flying sword that belongs to you alone, a lifebound spirit relic, Culling of Seven Ruins!”

An Jing was quite taken aback. ”Wait, so this is a lifebound spirit relic? Something that I have to nurture and refine bit by bit on my own?”

Yvelbane found it all too reasonable. ”Think about it. It comes from your ability and grows as you grow. It’s also the perfect match for your talent and lifearc. What else can it be other than a lifebound spirit relic?”

The logic made sense, though it still felt rather odd to An Jing. Then again, this was not the time to nitpick with Yvelbane.

He picked up a waterscreen in the warehouse and sent Huo Qing a message, saying that he was slightly injured and needed him to bring some vitality-rich food and qi essence over. He also asked whether he could help locate a lightning-aspect spirit item of decent durability.

In almost no time at all, Huo Qing replied with a flurry of messages, asking what kind of injury An Jing sustained. He said he would bring him some greenwood pastries with him, a dessert that contained lots of greenwood vitality qi. It was the perfect gift during a sick visit.

As for the spirit item, his reply came as quite a surprise to An Jing and the sword soul.

Huo Qing: What? You also need a durable lightning-aspect spirit item? An Jing, does your tribe need a high-voltage pylon or something? Those things are rather cheap. There are many options from different vendors that excel in different ways. Do you have anything specific in mind?

”A high-voltage pylon?” Yvelbane had no idea what that was.

An Jing, however, exhaled deeply and smiled. ”This is why I love being able to shop from another world. All too often, the solutions to all my problems are already a part of daily life here.”