Destiny in Cinders

”The farms and other spirit item deposits deep in Brokeblade Mountain don’t seem to be guarded and are up for grabs,” An Jing told Bai Qinghan and Xu Tai when he returned to Riverside. ”However, most of the ripened spirit herbs have already been picked. All we have left are unripe ones and the fruiting plants themselves. I’m not too familiar with this, so I was wondering if any of you know more about the growth cycles of spirit herbs. As long as we can harvest even a small portion of them, we’d make quite a huge haul. We won’t have to worry about cultivation resources anymore. In fact, we can use some of that to fund the running of the city.”

It’ll also help speed up the generation of dragon qi. That part was left unsaid.

Bai Qinghan nodded. ”There are indeed some spirit artifacts and pills that can stimulate the growth of spirit plants. Some feys also possess innate abilities that achieve the same thing. It’s also possible to do that using lifearcs or terrestrial-vein qi, but it’ll only work once. We have to pair that with other methods to promote their growth properly. Basically, as long as we’re not talking about fresh sprouts, there are many ways we can get them to mature.”

”I don’t really know much about this,” Xu Tai said, stroking his beard. ”But even putting aside these spirit herbs, we’d be able to make quite a bit by virtue of the precious timber and mineral ores around Brokeblade Mountain alone. Young Hero An, I believe that the squirrel on your shoulder is really adept at finding spirit ores.”

The tiny critter looked around alertly, sensing that someone was talking about it. It tilted its head and squeaked as if it was asking a question.

”If we’re making some money either way, I want to direct that toward development.” Thanks to his access to both worlds, An Jing wasn’t that desperate for money and profit. It was much more important for him to stabilize the environment around him and build up a proper base.

He talked with his two trusted aides a bit more about the city’s situation, such as the survey of the local population and the distribution of rations. He nodded with satisfaction when he learned that the people were living good and stable lives. ”You’ve done rather well. I’m grateful that you two chose to stay with me even though it was nothing more than an impulse on my part.”

”Don’t be!” Xu Tai didn’t feel the least bit held back by his duties. In fact, he pulsed with so much energy that suggested he had made quite a bit of headway in his cultivation. ”In the past few days, I even felt that my fifth wonder is at the brink of awakening. I’m at the precipice of a breakthrough!”

An Jing widened his eyes; he didn’t recall seeing Xu Tai working hard at cultivation. But when he recalled that Xu Tai was already someone with four wonders and only one remaining soul wonder to manifest, he asked, ”Are you saying that your mindset...”

”That’s right!” Xu Tai admitted to it readily. ”In the past ten-odd years, I managed to find a soul wonder that pairs really well with the rest of mine, Group Uplifting. It requires me to lead a group of people on different assignments or be some kind of local official or leading figure. That’s why I chose to start my wayguard agency to build a reputation.

”While my sobriquet ’Good as Gold’ is in part due to my personality, it’s also due to the strict rules I set for myself to build my reputation. I wanted to make it clear to anyone that requests my service to follow the rules I lay down. This wonder lines up really well with my lifearc, Pathfinder. Who else would I find a path for if not for a group I uplifted?

”I had initially estimated that I would only be able to manifest the fifth wonder fully by the time I reach sixty and go on to try for the Clearing Realm. But now, I think I’ll reach it more than ten years earlier than expected. Working with you under your rules must’ve rubbed off on me quite a lot. If I keep this up for a few more months, I think my fifth wonder will fully manifest!”

”That sounds great!” An Jing was genuinely delighted for Xu Tai. The man was someone who had graduated from a martial academy and likely to be far more educated than An Jing in all matters martial, so he definitely knew much more about how cultivation typically progressed. The fact that Xu Tai was able to advance by working with An Jing made him understand why this world kept pushing martialists to get involved in worldly matters. Not only would they find many chances to progress their cultivation, they’d also encounter other martialists along the way, creating a mutually beneficial cycle of constant improvement.

”I suppose this is the nature of tribulations. It’s no wonder they say that cultivation feeds on tribulations in the world of red dust. While tribulations are risky to one’s life, those that survive them end up gaining quite a lot!” An Jing said.

Yvelbane was quite taken aback as well. ”Taking advantage of tribulations is just as orthodox a way to go about it. It’s not unlike how a sword soul like me hones myself through the act of killing.”

An Jing turned to Bai Qinghan and asked, ”Do you not need to return to Heavenly Will Mountain?”

She shook her head and said, ”I can cultivate here just as well. In fact, the snow calamity is a kind of fateful encounter for me too. Don’t worry, Grand Chen still doesn’t have any information about me. Nobody knows that I’m a goddess of the demonic cult.”

Hey, I’m still nearby! Don’t go revealing deep secrets like these while I’m here! I don’t want any part in it! Xu Tai’s expression soured immediately. What in the world is with these martial siblings? Why do they keep talking about stuff like this in front of me? Are they planning to silence me one day? Xu Tai was a tad too pessimistic when it came to this matter. The notion didn’t even cross An Jing’s mind.

After he told them that he would spend some time in the mountains to gather information about the distribution of spirit items there, he went to see his mother, who was guiding the automata to clear out rubble along the streets for the rebuilding efforts.

He hugged his mother and said, ”Mom, we’ll probably be staying in Riverside for quite a while. Given how sensitive my identity is, I don’t feel safe about returning to Grand Chen or going to Dustdawn. I think there’ll be less trouble coming my way if I stay here in this forsaken land, constantly watched by people from all sides. As for Dad, I think he should be relatively safe in Dustdawn. Are you in a hurry to find him?”

”Of course not.” Shen Mubai smiled with joy at the sight of her beloved son. She sounded much more energetic than before. ”It’ll take much more than this to kill your old man. Back then during your birth, I thought he had perished at South Han Circuit. Yet, he somehow came crawling back despite the fiend calamity. I’m not the least bit concerned about his safety. If you want to stay in Riverside to build something up for yourself, I can be of help. I have quite a lot of experience managing simple affairs back at Gufeng County.”

An Jing knew well that his mother did much more than just managing simple affairs. She was the one that kept their household trade running during the two years that his father was missing in action. There was no way An Jing could rival her when it came to organizational and management skills.

”Alright, Mom. Take these.” He gave her some stealth, defense, mobility and communication talismans. ”You can use this one to reach out to me if you need anything. If I’m not around, use the others to hide and survive.”

”Will do.” Shen Mubai had seen her fair share of talismans and didn’t need her son to explain how to use each one. She put them away and stroked his face with a loving smile. ”If you have something you need to do, go all out. That dear Qinghan is looking after me well. If there’s any danger, she will take me to safety.”

An Jing nodded and was relieved that everyone was doing well. ”I’ll be back in around three days.”

”Go ahead and do your thing.” Shen Mubai resumed her work while An Jing left Riverside. He opened the Grandvoid Pathway in midair and headed to Skysource to get some tools and materials.