Destiny in Cinders

Nian Quan looked at the longevity sprout in An Jing’s hand in shock. ”Is that... the vitality essence of a pureblood dangkang? But you...”

He gave An Jing an incredulous look. ”Did you hunt down a pureblood dangkang?”

An Jing thought about how to explain it and shook his head. ”Well, let’s just say I have a good relationship with one and was given a few gifts.”

”Gifts?” This time, it was Huo Qing’s turn to be flabbergasted. ”An Jing, do you know how precious something like this is? It’s akin to a whole extra life for them!”

Though surprised, Huo Qing knew that An Jing was telling the truth. Typically, dangkangs used up all the sources of vitality they had to heal up if they were hunted. The only way to obtain something with vitality essence was to kill the beasts before they even noticed they were attacked, and even that wasn’t guaranteed due to the rarity of greenery in Skysource, which made it hard for dangkangs to gather their essence. Many of them died before managing to manifest even a single longevity sprout.

An Jing blinked in surprise as he recalled the scene of Climbing Snowfang manifesting a six longevity sprouts for him with just a word. It didn’t seem like anything too precious. Skysource is devastated to this degree, huh? Even the feys are struggling.

He didn’t let it show on his expression and said, ”Either way, we will use this wood-aspect spirit item to curb the wood-aspect lethal qi. Your injuries will stop worsening and you’ll even recover your bones and tendons before the qi fully disperses.”

”It’s far t-too precious,” Nian Quan said with a slight stammer.

An Jing raised his index finger. ”That’s true, but this alone won’t heal up your right hand quickly enough. So, I’ll teach you two moves. The first, Armorpierce Impetus, is something I’ve learned just by studying it casually. Huo Qing here also only used a single night to learn it by using the insights he gained from formation theory. I think you’ll master it in one day as well.”

Huo Qing made an expression of confusion when An Jing played down Armorpierce Impetus’s difficulty. Didn’t I spend a few months taking a crack at it and only gained sudden insight after experiencing a life-or-death situation?

”This move has rather high demands on your bodily constitution and force application. I’m not too worried about the latter, but you don’t have any body refinement foundations to fall back on for the former. Fortunately, your right hand has arborealized. While it’s stiff and can’t be used to wield a sword easily, you can treat it like a sturdy wooden sword. Nian Quan, have you heard the saying that sword immortals treat their swords like a part of their bodies? By the same logic, can’t you treat your own body like a sword instead? All you have to do is to use your arm like a sword and apply Armorpierce Impetus to exert your sword intent. I’m sure they’ll be surprised!”

”Treating the body like a sword...” Nian Quan’s eyes widened as he listened blankly.

An Jing raised a second finger. ”And the second move, Ailment Swordfinger, is a bit tougher. I think it’d take you a few days to get the hang of it, so there’s no rush here. It’s my ultimate move. I... Once, an ancestor of mine used this to destroy a Foundation Realm arcane corpus of a Purple Mansion sage!”

”Wow!” Though it sounded rather exaggerated, both Huo Qing and Nian Quan could hear the confidence in An Jing’s voice. The mysterious cult behind him had an impressive background indeed. Perhaps they had really made an enemy out of a sage and even destroyed a sage’s arcane corpus, which had the power of a Foundation Building cultivator.

Given Nian Quan’s talent and the longevity sprout’s healing, he wouldn’t struggle to pick up Armorpierce Impetus before the match. An Jing and Huo Qing both helped tutor him so that he could use it in actual combat as soon as possible. Time quickly passed and An Jing soon found himself in Skysource for the third day.

The first elimination match of the top-eight participants would begin soon. Third Middle School’s principal furrowed his brow at his VIP seat. To his side was the principal of First Middle School, a jolly, tubby old man with white eyebrows, stroking his goatee.

”I heard that your little sword immortal chose not to forfeit,” the tubby man said in a gentle tone, shaking his head in disapproval. ”That won’t do, Young He. All of us need to know our limits. It’s imperative to rest and recuperate if one gets hurt. Persisting recklessly might well result in the stifling of a potential young talent.”

Principal He didn’t understand why Nian Quan had changed his mind about forfeiting either. The school was quite happy that he made it to the top eight. The bigwigs above them were also happy that Third Middle School managed to produce a promising young talent. Nian Quan had achieved everything with flying colors to the point that the principal wanted to reward this careless but competent young student. He had wanted to force Nian Quan to forfeit, yet the youth was adamant and wouldn’t be swayed.

”Those tricks are beneath you,” Principal He said in a displeased tone. He was a sword immortal too, after all. ”I have always respected the might of First Middle School. There was no need for those underhanded tactics.”

”Young He, Young He...” The tubby man shook his head even more. ”What’s underhanded about that? The young are naive and lack experience. The fact that he fell for a little trick like that shows that he simply wasn’t properly trained. Let what happens in the arena stay in the arena and resolve things the same way instead of flinging childish words at each other. The times have really changed since our old days. Weren’t you only able to obtain first place because of the infighting of the leaders of First Middle School back then? Nowadays, our students are really united. There’s no way you all stand a chance.”

Principal He chuckled coldly at the implication that the results Third Middle School had obtained before were illegitimate. He was so mad that he felt the impulse to draw his sword against the fatty, but it simply wasn’t the time or place for it. The tubby man was no longer the minor figure who played a supporting role in his story, but the principal of First Middle School, boasting access to unimaginable resources and connections. Principal He was no longer the hot-blooded, fearless young swordsman either. He calmed his rage and turned to the arena.

The first two rounds were matches between students of First Middle School in the loser’s bracket. One of the students in the first battle was adept at mobility techniques and hovered in the air, waiting to counter with aerial sword stances. However, his opponent managed to lock onto him and rapidly struck him down with an instantaneous lightning spell.

As for the second duel, both students were spell cultivators that launched a cacophony of colorful attacks of multiple aspects at each other, greatly hyping up the crowd. The final bout that settled the match had kept everyone at the seat’s edge. One of the students had been locked inside a Water Prison spell and was almost about to asphyxiate. The caster who thought that he was about to win tried to deliver an unnecessary final blow, only to be sent flying by a Traction spell that had secretly been laid down as a trap earlier. He ended up falling outside the arena and losing that way.

”That’s all part of the script.” There was no way Principal He couldn’t see through the acting despite the engaging fights. While it looked like the students had fought like they intended to kill, the victor always used a single move to end the fight without any lasting damage. The victors looked as if they had fought intensely, but even then they moved on to the next round without exhausting themselves too much or suffering any debilitating injuries.

This was even more so the case for the winner’s bracket. The burly student that struck first raised his crimson scepter and launched forward, immediately casting five concurrent spells that fired off powerful flames, easily knocking his opponent who had just been raising a freshly cast spirit shield off the arena.

Nian Quan stepped out for the fourth match. Principal He gave him a worried look as he was escorted toward the arena by Huo Qing and An Jing. He was aware that Nian Quan’s friends had come to visit the day before, but he didn’t think it’d be an issue if they were only there to console Nian Quan. It appeared that Nian Quan’s injury hadn’t fully recovered, but he seemed to be in better spirits.

Through his chip, he sent a private message.

Principal He: Don’t force yourself in your current condition. Just make sure that you don’t worsen your injury, Little Nian. You have done incredibly well and will be rewarded when we return. Don’t do anything reckless.

Nian Quan: I will win.[1]

1. TL thoughts: Ryogawa: Totally a ”Nah, I’ll win” moment. ☜