Destiny in Cinders

An Jing did notice that Metalhand was not all he claimed to be, but he would never expect that the crude older man would link him to the immortal castle ruins. Then again, Metalhand wasn’t completely wrong, considering that An Jing did in fact possess the True Talisman and knew about the underground cavern that was another potential entrance to those ruins. It was a blind guess that was coincidentally correct.

What An Jing actually figured out was that Metalhand, being a member of the Justice Restoration Army, would definitely be interested in telling him the truth about it so that they could properly collaborate, given how useful it was to have a base of operations so near to the site of the ruins. Well, I don’t see a reason we shouldn’t cooperate. Come to think of it, what kind of organization is the Justice Restoration Army? I’m quite curious about them now.

With that thought in mind, he first returned to Brokeblade Mountain to find some spirit-herb plots to test out his fertilizer before going back to Riverside. The fertilizer’s effects would only show after seventy-two hours at the earliest, just in time for the Grandvoid Pathway to cool down. He could check which one worked best before returning to Skysource to get more.

Back at Riverside, he instructed his people to get him the other ingredients needed to forge a dragonhoard bottle. He talked to Bai Qinghan a little while he waited.

While she was the quiet sort, she was also rather observant and quickly noticed the shift in An Jing’s presence. ”Did... did you just gain more insight into something? Your presence is even more attuned to nature now.”

”I did gain quite a bit of insight,” he said with a chuckle, not bothering to hide anything. ”Once you reach the Fortification Realm, I’ll tell you these insights. Then again, I suppose I can share part of them with you.”

He told her about what he came to understand about the four symbols, five phases, arcane cosmic light, spatial void, spirit and lethal qi as well as the configuration and manifestation of things. He also gave her a brief explanation about how the martial path and fey cultivation techniques were related.

”When you go back to Heavenly Will Mountain and find something similar in the texts among the cult’s legacies, you can show them to me too.” An Jing no longer held any reservation against her and casually extended her an open invitation to visit him.

Her eyes shone with awe and respect as she hurriedly accepted his offer. ”Your explanation... I see! So that’s what the core teachings are really about! As expected of you, Senior Disciple. You figured it out all on your own!”

She was well aware that even with the Supreme Truths of Heaven Man, An Jing still needed to be able to glean the right understanding from the text to unlock its true mysteries. Different people could interpret the text in many different ways to unlock different insights, after all. Even if that ancient core-legacy text were to spread across the entire world, it would only parse as nonsense to most people who didn’t get the deeper meanings encoded within. They would only be able to skim the text at a surface level before labeling it as nothing more than a far-fetched story with subpar entertainment value.

”After hearing your explanation, I also came to some insights of my own. I use two texts for my cultivation. The full scope of it includes the typical five wonders and an extra one from my lifearc, namely, Instant Silver Bamboo, Cloudsmoke Desert, Netherly Fluorescence, Clearmoon Dew, Torrential Spirit Marsh and Silent Moon Illumination. All of them are aligned with nether and yin.

”Instant Silver Bamboo focuses on shifting the flow of qi essence into an unending cycle, like rain that falls in a continuous stream that appears like a silver bamboo that grows skyward. That’s a good match for footwork and cosmic light. Cloudsmoke Desert constructs a basic framework stretching across the flesh and meridians in the body, matching up with the spatial void. Netherly Fluorescence nurtures a trace of profound-yin innate qi deep in the mind and serves as the cornerstone for spirit and lethal qi. Clearmoon Dew descends from the sea of consciousness and nourishes the entire body and soul, serving as something akin to a central pillar.

”Lastly, Torrential Spirit Marsh transforms the way I see profound-yin qi into a heavy rain of spirit light that forms a marsh in my sea of consciousness to nurture my soul and psychic intent, continuously clearing the heaven-earth gateways and preparing me to advance to the Clearing Realm. As for my first ability, Silent Moon Illumination, it comes from the lifestar of my lifearc, guarding my soul like a radiant moon and allowing me to cultivate this series of wonders.”

”It does line up. Sounds like the wonders of these ancient texts are quite different from what we typically see in the modern day.” An Jing nodded as he realized the subtle difference. Other things aside, the names of those wonders alone gave off a different feeling. ”The Heavenly Demon Cult’s legacy must be quite ancient, huh?”

”Probably.” It wasn’t something Bai Qinghan minded. ”It’s said that the legacy of the cult stretches far back into antiquity and is a part of the many arcana of immortals of old. My wonders were probably derivations of ancient immortal abilities and formations. Given how old they are, they don’t exactly correspond neatly to the parts of the body like modern wonders. Instead, they retained the old configurations that seek to let cultivators access the Grand Dao directly.”

It sounded plausible to An Jing. Modern cultivators in Void Embrace didn’t just focus on pursuing the Grand Dao, they also focused heavily on combat techniques. Their wonders corresponded to specific parts of the body, seeking to encompass the entirety of their extremities and their internal organs. True Dragon Spine, True Martial Spine, Ebony Sun Eyes, Brightmirror Heart and many more had specific bodily associations. Naturally, there was also the aspect of the heart and mind contained within Brightmirror Heart, while the ”spine” of True Martial Spine and True Dragon Spine represented the link to heaven and earth and the foundation of matter as well.

The most common wonders like Corbel Hands concerned the essence of the hand as a natural tool humans were born with. By shifting the hand’s innate nature, the wonder exerted a certain degree of domination and control, reflecting the aspect of the spatial void. Wonders relating to the hand were probably simplifications of powerful arts which grasped vital qi in the environment.

Most people would be completely oblivious to details like these without being explicitly reminded of them. That made geniuses like Bai Qinghan far more suited to cultivate using ancient wonders that required deeper contemplation and understanding.

Having gained some inspiration from An Jing’s explanation, she immediately excused herself, returning to her room to cultivate. Xu Tai, on the other hand, was out of the city to survey the surrounding terrain with a few of his subordinates. Having nobody else to talk to, An Jing, ever the studious teacher who wanted to share his insights and strengthen his own understanding, felt rather restless. It didn’t take long, however, for him to find a different target to lecture.

”What? An Jing, you have even more insights?” You Ruhui, still at Ancestral Dragon Hall, didn’t think that An Jing would have made yet another breakthrough so soon. She had been busy reading up on True Dragon Spine and was rather taken aback. ”Ah, sorry about this, but I’m a rather slow reader. I haven’t managed to finish the whole thing and summarize it yet. It’ll take another five to ten days...”

”There’s no rush,” An Jing said. ”I only wanted to share my insights. It’s not a transaction, so just listen. You already told me so many secrets without expecting anything in return before, after all, and it’s not like I’m keeping count of what we owe each other. Palace mistresses like you probably don’t have many friends, huh? Well, this is what friends do for each other.”

I’m sorry for not having many friends! No need to put salt in the wound! You Ruhui gripped her fist in frustration, but loosened it quickly and sighed. ”Fine, you’re my only friend, happy? Once I finish parsing all those tomes, I’ll tell you everything about True Dragon Spine and True Martial Spine.”

”Got it.” Having vented to his outlet, An Jing ended the conversation. He truly enjoyed telling people about what he learned, during which he often found new ways to interpret or synthesize what he already knew, giving him a great sense of accomplishment. It’s too bad that I’m not able to get in touch with Cang and Little Gu. Then again, I doubt they’re going to reach the Fortification Realm that soon, so there’s still time. Once Huo Qing properly walks on the martial path, I have to share this with him too.

Ideally, An Jing wanted all his friends to build perfect foundations. The stronger the people around him, the stronger he would become. If everyone around him struggled to make it to the Clearing Realm, how would he be able to share his insights and derive even deeper understandings? Who would he invest his resources into?

Time in Void Embrace passed quickly and he eventually returned to Skysource once more. Metalhand’s recycling house was empty, but Huo Qing did leave a message, saying that Metalhand was out on an errand while he went to watch Nian Quan’s match. An Jing would be able to find them at the special market.

It didn’t take him much time to travel there. He made it just in time to witness the moment Nian Quan defeated his opponent in the semifinals. With a single sword strike, Nian Quan unleashed a powerful sword beam that extinguished the opponent’s smoldering flames before cutting him down.

The black-haired youth was covered in injuries and breathed raggedly, having suffered frost and burns around his body on top of the wood-lethal-qi damage that hadn’t fully recovered. All of Nian Quan’s opponents had gone all out when they realized they weren’t able to defeat him so as to wear him down as much as they could.

Outside the arena, Yan Chengju, who had defeated Nian Quan once and caused him to drop into the loser’s bracket, was in peak form and completely uninjured. His brow was tightly furrowed as he exchanged looks with the smiling Nian Quan. They would face off against each other in the finals.