Destiny in Cinders

Droplets of blood trickled off the blade to the ground, seeping into the snow like strawberry syrup in shaved ice. A flash of white, a splash of red; the blade was clean once more. An Jing sheathed the blade.

The black-iron blade was far more durable than he imagined thanks to the advanced manufacturing technology of Skysource. Even after cutting off so many heads and crushing many weapons, it didn’t chip or fracture at all. While master smiths in Void Embrace could make weapons better than that, they would be nowhere near as practical and affordable.

An Jing stood at the center of twenty-eight corpses, a whole four squads. The lifeless bodies began to freeze in the windy frost. There was nobody left to stop An Jing in his tracks.

He headed toward Honor Pavilion, a lethal halo of blood surrounding him. Even though he didn’t use the power of his lifearc, it was agitated and stimulated, as if cheering him on. Life and death, existence and annihilation, order and chaos. This was blood lethal qi. This was Pyrestar Warden. As he stepped across the corpse-covered ground, a hint of savage red trailed in the wake of his eyes. Nobody saw the expression on his face as he approached the main entrance.

An Jing heard the sound of air being cut through; a bronze crossbow had fired from the darkness, sights aimed at An Jing’s head. The whooshing of the bolt was only a hair slower than the twang of the bowstring. By the time he heard it, he was already at risk of dying. The pitch-black fiend patterns on the bolt were so potent that they would deal a critical blow to him.

Even then, it was too slow. An Jing didn’t even look up. He had raised his hand before the bolt was sent flying, catching it as if he had seen it coming in slow motion. Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal’s power was so potent against metallic objects that caused the bolt to contort and deform.

Then, An Jing did something that none of the observers around him, the shooter included, expected. He opened his mouth and bit down on the bolt’s tip, crushing it. ”It’s nothing compared to jadeslice steel.”

The terrifying crunch of metal reverberated from his mouth. He chewed on the bolt and savored its taste before swallowing it and letting out a smile.

”Yvelbane, has the heavenly fiend’s arcane domain collapsed?” He chuckled and put on his full-protection helmet. ”Given the density of fiend qi around here, I need my gas mask too.”

”It’s collapsed. My theory was correct. As long as we destroy the base of the building, it’s enough to dispel the arcane domain within it,” Yvelbane said. ”However, they’re working to restore it. You have to stop them right away. If it’s activated, it can even defend against explosions.”

”No problem.” An Jing leaned down to get into a sprinting position.

”Stop him!” came an angry voice that all the fiend followers heard clearly in their heads. ”Stop him at any co—”

The order was abruptly cut off. An Jing zipped ahead, his mantle beating up dust and snow on the ground in his wake as he charged into the building. The inside of the building was disturbingly devoid of light. Pitch-black fiend qi flowed on the ground’s surface. Had the arcane domain not collapsed, it would be even more hellish of a sight.

Two armored elite soldiers armed with longblades, shields and crossbows came forward, swinging their blades from both sides in an attempt to stop An Jing., but they had underestimated how prepared he was. The bulletproof mantle was much sturdier than they imagined. They had thought that the fabric would be cut through completely only to feel their blades spring back with such force that it caused them to take a step backward. They were so taken aback that they froze for the slightest moment.

An Jing, however, didn’t waste energy taking out these heavily armored foes. He merely tossed one thunder bead into the exposed joints of their armor before zipping off. Violent lightning arced across their bodies before they were able to remove the beads.

Before he made it far, however, a group of seven gray-cloaked martialists charged toward him. The leader’s stance was so low that he was almost on the ground, growling like a feline beast. Based on his hand movements, he was using the Tiger Form of Pentabeast Divine Fist.

Though he came a little later than he should have, he was a powerful elite of the Tide Aura Stage, having been personally trained by Lu Jin! Most of the guards that An Jing had taken out earlier didn’t have any aura at all and were mere layfolk with above average martial skill.

The only true martialists at the Silk and River Aura Stages were the squad leaders and armored guards. and even then, they had weaker constitutions than An Jing, probably from the debauchery they regularly engaged in. It didn’t help that they were worse equipped.

The Tide Aura Stage martialist was a different breed, however. Defeating him while he was surrounded by his own squad of guards would cost An Jing a whole... magazine. Ratatatatatatatata! Dual pistols, sixteen consecutive shots. The cloaked martialists who had been charging ahead dropped like flies. Only the leader who used the Tiger Form managed to deflect two bullets with his arm-shield, but that didn’t stop the other five from striking him.

”You...” Glaring menacingly at An Jing, he looked like he had something to say. Probably something along the lines of ”How dare you use hidden weapons?!” or ”Have you no honor?!” Nope, An Jing had none, not where combat was concerned. He didn’t even give the martialist the time to hurl insults and immediately served up a knuckle sandwich.

The punch landed with a dull thud on the martialist’s temple, spilling a slurry of blood and gray matter on the ground. The martialist fell to the ground, his face contorted from the impact. An Jing didn’t linger or pity him and kept charging toward the top floor.

His sudden assault had come out of nowhere, with none of the fiend-follower guards anticipating it. He worked so swiftly and forcefully that he easily overwhelmed any shoddy preparation they could muster. Had they been more alert, the two armored guards from earlier and the seven cloaked martialists could have ganged up on him. Bullets were useless against that kind of armor, and An Jing would be held back for quite some time, skilled as he was.

Much of this was thanks to the investigation and preparation he had done. Before he made his move, he already knew who the commander and squad leaders were and picked them off with his Iceburst rifle at the start of the engagement. His armaments were just as terrifying; not a single person in Void Embrace would expect a Fortification Realm martialist to come equipped with a whole set of artifacts and so much more.

An Jing crushed the defenses from the first floor all the way to the fourth. Some of the martialists of the True Fiend Cult were away, occupying the terrestrial-vein nodes they had taken over. They only left enough people to watch their base. Nobody had expected that an all-out war would be raged there, however. Faced with the merciless An Jing whose every strike aimed to maim or kill, they were nothing but stepping stones.

At the fifth floor, however, An Jing ran into the final obstacle before Lu Jin: one of the two Fortification Realm martialists in Honor Pavilion, Guard Captain Guo Chang.

”Brilliant skills and a whole set of powerful equipment. As expected of a disciple of a major Dustdawner tribe.” A man of slender build with sharp eyes stood at the stairwell, armed with a nine-segmented whip. He squinted at An Jing as his lips parted, revealing his pale-white teeth. ”Looks like we’ve underestimated your strength and resolve.”