Destiny in Cinders

The farthest depths of the bottomless nether sea was constantly filled with scalding steam and a smog of mist and rainwater. There, a tall, gray-white mountain came bursting out of the Sea of Endless Tears, stopping just shy of touching the dark clouds of mist and rain. One could see the thousands of islands around the nether sea from the peak of this mountain where the many countries of fiendgods and malicious spirits were located. Countless points of illumination could be seen littered across the plain cities and ports around the islands. That was the means by which the fiendgods maintained a connection with the corporeal world: soulflares, the flames of faith.

Soulflares needed fuel to burn, fuel in the form of incense and faith from the human world. Countries in the nether that were powerful enough would be able to refine true substance from the nether sea, causing their territories to gradually rise and float until they formed a massive continent above the nether sea.

The powerful fiendgods that ruled such lands had thrones with bright soulflares that functioned as suns that illuminated the nether. Anywhere the light of the soulsuns touched demarcated the border of the continent. Spirits basking in the soulsuns’ illumination were able to live as if they were in the corporeal world, moving and even cultivating as normal. With enough talent and effort, they, too, would become fiendgods, the equivalents of Treasures Realm sages of the corporeal world.

The mountain of gray and white was the throne of one particular fiendgod ruler. This mountain once bore soulsuns, but those days were long past. The country had met its end long ago. The chthonic land left behind in the wake of its ruin ended up becoming the home of a different type of denizen in the nether.

Many gigantic tentacles wriggled deep in the nether sea, coiling like dragons and snakes, yet behaving like the feelers of a massive beast. The many intersecting tentacles, complete with scales and talons, cast a wide net across the nether sea and used the mountain as its shell abode on its voyage.

Liferot’s eyes opened; the eyes were formed from gloomy flames that burned unevenly, as if reflecting its owner’s thoughts. ”Interesting... The Ninedawn Armsmaster came into contact with a fragment of Yvelbane...”

The greater heavenly fiend pondered a little longer and chuckled. ”Then again, this might be something we can make use of. The source of the snow calamity, the weapon of a bitter sacrifice, the hate of karmic punishment... At the end of the day, a fiend tribulation armament is still an armament. Haaa...”

The fiend descended back toward the ocean depths, spreading its network of pitch-black tentacles far and wide, scheming.

***

Bai Qinghan and Xu Tai were trying to maintain order within the city of Riverside by convincing the citizens to stay instead of flee to little avail. The traders guild would definitely have no issue keeping everyone in the city through force and threats, but since those two were An Jing’s allies and presumably wouldn’t harm them, their words carried far less weight.

Some people begged Bai Qinghan and Xu Tai to let them go, while others passive-aggressively called them the new Bejeweled and accused them of wanting to charge them even more flagrant taxes than before, squeezing the citizens for what little they had left.

While that was an absolutely ridiculous claim by the sound of it that one wouldn’t expect from the mouth of a sane person, the world always had a way of surprising everyone with the existence of the mentally challenged. Hence, Xu Tai wasn’t the least bit taken aback. In fact, he was so used to it that he barely reacted at hearing that patently braindead accusation.

Grand Chen was an empire with a large population, after all, so the presence of certain midwits was all too unsurprising. If these people won’t listen to well-minded advice from reasonable people, violence was the only way to change their minds. And violence, they would get, for the beast tide was creeping into the vicinity of Riverside.

Since An Jing crushed Bejeweled, the formation discs’ connection with the major terrestrial-vein formation was cut off. The sensitive beasts near Brokeblade Mountain immediately sensed the subtle change in the environment.

From the day the snow calamity started, the beasts’ usual habitats suffered a heavy assault from the frost and cold. Winter was far more potent than it had ever been in previous years. The chilling winds swept across the land, causing everything to wither and eventually burying everything under a thick sheet of white.

While powerful feys were able to endure the sudden change, mundane beasts and birds eventually died out. Having lost their common foundation, the ascended feys were faced with extinction in the future as well. It was for that reason that all the beasts from the wilderness decided to migrate, and while they tried to avoid areas dense with human towns and settlements, they were forced to cross paths occasionally. Such was the nature of travel.

But once An Jing retrieved the unclaimed dragon qi from the region, the nearby beasts and feys, even the great-fey mountain rulers, subconsciously approached Riverside out of pure instinct. Their primal impulse drove them to vie for one of the most useful types of lethal qi in existence. Imperial dao dragon qi contained qi of the three fundamental powers, that of heaven, earth and man! Not only could it be used to refine divine armaments, enhance cultivation, increase talent, nurture wonders and cultivate abilities, it could also be used by feys to elevate their bloodlines to the level of a true spirit, becoming auspicious or even divine beasts!

The reason for that was that dragon qi was something that the Ancestral Dragon of Void Embrace created from fundamental primordial essence with the help of the Dao Court as a means for all sentient life to elevate themselves to become true spirits. Humankind was also counted among those sentient beings and were considered the spiritual leaders of all beings. The true spirit of mankind was known for wisdom. Future humans used the fundamental qi of man as a foundation and anchor before venturing to adopt heaven qi and earth qi, synthesizing all three into human dao dragon qi, which retained similar qualities to fundamental primordial essence.

As the dragon qi within Grand Chen was all claimed, nobody but the imperial court could make use of it, so there wasn’t a point in stealing it. That was also why Grand Chen’s dragon qi was not attractive to feys in the least. However, the mere presence of unclaimed dragon qi caused feys to approach the city even though they didn’t really understand why. Some intelligent mountain rulers tried to restrict their brethren from entering and destroying the city, but the unruly beasts were already close enough that some were bold enough to disobey commands and attack the humans within, forcing the citizens who had been attempting to flee to come running back.

”The beast tide is here! It’s about to overwhelm the city!”

”Riverside is doomed!”

”Somebody, save us! I don’t want to die!”

Cries of panic spread through the crowd. Despite Xu Tai and Bai Qinghan’s best efforts to calm them, it was quite difficult to quell a crowd that progressively fell deeper and deeper into panic with only the two of them.

”This is bad...” Xu Tai muttered. ”I don’t know what happened, but with Bejeweled gone, it’ll be hard to defend others in the city once the beasts swarm us.”

”This tribulation must be due to a disruption of order,” Bai Qinghan said. ”Ripples inevitably result from the disruption of peace, no matter how dark and dirty that peace was. This is just a reaction to the changing state of affairs, in other words, the destruction of Bejeweled. There’s only two ways we can overcome this tribulation. The first is to do nothing and let the beasts swarm the city as they please. We’ll also let the cityfolk run off to wherever they want. We’ll leave everything to heaven’s fate.”

Xu Tai immediately shook his head. ”What kind of cope is that? Leaving it to heaven? We have to at least try to put up a struggle, right?”

”But this is heavenly will. Whether you agree with it or not, hope for it or not, this is how things will play out unless you have a better way. Life will find a way one way or another. Just look at what our efforts to advise them to stay calm resulted in. We tried hard to get them to return to their homes, yet none of it worked. Whether we choose to take action or not, we aren’t able to affect massive events that have already been set in motion. It’s futile to go against heavenly will.”

Xu Tai put up his guard upon hearing those words. Hmm, this lass is behaving rather calmly. Her words are also incredibly cold, and she keeps bringing up heavenly will. Don’t tell me... He forced his caution to the back of his mind and asked, ”What’s the alternative?”

Bai Qinghan turned to look in the direction of Brokeblade Mountain. She suddenly understood the true meaning of the analysis An Jing had given about the insights from the Heavenly Demon Cult earlier. ”The second way is to ride and steer the wave. We have to become the enforcers of heavenly will. If this is a result of the collapse of the former order, we just have to build a new order, usher in the outcome we want to see. Karma begets karma, effect follows from cause. Only through more destruction will we be able to put an end to destruction... I see! This is the process of creation and destruction, the cycle of karma. This is heavenly will!”

Xu Tai didn’t understand any of her ramblings, though he could tell that those words contained morsels of truth. But soon, he turned to the direction Bai Qinghan was looking in, utterly shocked. In fact, everyone in the city and even the beasts outside looked up and saw a silver-white flying vehicle approaching, weaving through the powerful snowstorm and leaving a trail of red and gold in its wake, parting clouds like a divine arrow.

Then, a pitch-black object fell from the sky; A massively long carcass fell toward the center of the city, causing clouds of dust to rise. It fell right at the spot where the flaming pillar was, wrapped tightly around it. The blood-lethal-qi flame that burned around the pillar immediately ignited the carcass, giving off powerful bursts of light and heat. Then, a massive serpentine head with traces of wyrm features fell on the entrance at Riverside’s walls, shaking the gates heavily and causing the people nearby to run off.

The approaching beasts also faltered and stopped, shocked by the sight of the dead, breathless serpent. Then, they watched as a blood-colored sword flash came swooping down from the sky, piercing through the head of the serpent, collapsing the wall partially, causing the reptilian head to sink into it. An Jing descended along his sword and stepped out of the clouds of dust onto the head of the fiendish serpent that was drained of its mystical qi in front of the pillar of flame.

”I have returned with the head of the troublemaker before the flame went out,” he announced, his voice echoing far and wide. ”Heed my words, those within the city! Return to your homes in a calm and steady fashion. Once we make a roll call, we will begin distributing rations. To the beasts outside the city, if you understand my words, back away and leave. If there are any injured among you, leave them at the city’s outskirts. I will have them treated and tended to. But if any of you mean ill to the cityfolk, I will kill you without exception! My words are my rules, and those who dare go against it will...”

An Jing drew Culling, charged it up with powerful lightning and unleashed a sword strike skyward! A powerful bolt of lightning shot up through the clouds and struck a fey bird that had been waiting to prey on humans, smiting it to the ground and turning it into charred ash.

”...end up like this beast!” Thunder continued to rumble up above; it was either due to the heat that built up from the flaming pillar at the center of the city or the buildup of lightning from An Jing’s earlier strike. Even then, no man nor beast paid any attention to the thunderclouds above. Their gazes were completely fixed on the youth standing atop the city walls, wielding a sword of blood and lightning.

”I see...” Bai Qinghan looked at An Jing from behind him, fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh. Her eyes shone with the light of understanding. So this is what a sword is truly like. This is his way. My will, my psyche; my sword, my rules. This is what true heavenly will is like!