Destiny in Cinders

A late-stage Fortification martialist is hard to kill after all, An Jing thought as he raised his rifle and sword case to shoot at Lu Jin, who rapidly accelerated to avoid the projectiles. An Jing didn’t mind spending ammunition and spirit qi from the crucible to exhaust Lu Jin, whose powerful vitality reminded him of the Fengdu Guard’s soldier.

The soldier at the black market had been at the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm. It took the whole magazine of ammunition from both the rifle and sword case to kill him, and that was not counting what it took to breach his armor. Part of it was due to the specific techniques he used, of course. Even then, cultivating qi on the immortal path did strengthen the physical body by leaps and bounds by its very nature.

The Fortification Realm was the equivalent realm of the Qi Refinement Realm on the martial path. Coupled with the heavenly fiend’s blessing that helped Lu Jin regain his youth, An Jing wasn’t able to kill him in one shot like he did Guo Chang. Lu Jin’s vitality was incredibly potent.

However, I’m not the same as I was before. An Jing circulated his technique throughout his body and took a deep breath. Platinum patterns could be seen faintly through his helmet, piercing through his eyeholes like sharp blades. Streams of light spread from his shoulders and waist to his arms and legs, radiating power. He had used his Evenstar lethal qi and the spirit-qi crucible to power the OverSight sword case, but this time, he aimed for the embryo in the secret chamber rather than Lu Jin.

What?! He actually discovered it?! Lu Jin’s eyes snapped alertly. He had thought that he managed to hide the existence of the embryo with his desperate act, only for it to be discovered all the same. I have no choice!

Mustering all the power he could, Lu Jin roared as hair grew all around his body. He turned into a lionesque creature while a red-brown halo shone behind his head, emanating the scent of wild dignity. This was his lifearc: Beast Tamer.

He stretched his hand out in the direction of the embryo and used the power of his lifearc, causing the embryo to wobble. Countless gray-black arms manifested from the dark shadows and wrapped around the embryo protectively. The bright flash of the sword pushed through the dark pathway, striking the embryo in the secret chamber but failing to pierce through the defenses.

”The embryo’s surrounded by too much soul lethal qi! It’s made from the souls that were sacrificed. My fiendslaying sword intent didn’t work!” Yvelbane exclaimed. ”How many souls did he sacrifice? Given how dense it is, there had to be at least a few thousand!”

”It’s fine,” An Jing said, not perturbed in the slightest. His eyes glowed even stronger in crimson. ”No matter how many they’ve sacrificed, I will be the one to sacrifice them on this day.”

If one sword projectile didn’t work, he would unleash another. The spirit-qi crucible from the Fengdu Guard had tens of times more capacity than the Ninelands one. If not for the fact that it was a one-use item that couldn’t be recharged, it would fetch an insane price.

Lu Jin, however, didn’t just sit idly and let An Jing do as he pleased. While An Jing loaded the sword case up, Lu Jin gave up on hiding and burst out from the wall behind him! His arm flashed black and silver as his skin turned as stiff as copper. A snake-sized vein in the arm pulsed with immense power.

You’re nothing but a coward who uses hidden tricks and artifacts! I’ll teach you what real close combat is! ”Die!”

He punched so hard that he created a sonic boom in the air, a signature move of his that made him famous in his youth. It was the secret technique that he had wanted to rely on to advance toward the Clearing Realm, True Nature Ego Fist! This cultivation technique required his nature and mind to harmonize as one to the point that no stray thoughts remained. As he had never been able to properly reach that mental state, he wasn’t even able to achieve the fifth wonder, Steadfastness, let alone break through to the Clearing Realm.

After An Jing’s relentless assault, however, he was driven wild enough into a bestial state that helped harmonize everything. He could gather all the energy in his body toward one single goal: slaying the youth before him! His arcanum, True Nature Ego Fist, combined with the power of multiple wonders including Vajra Arms, Dragonnet Tendon and Copper Skin, could kill a wild beast in one hit, let alone a kid!

An Jing turned around with a snap; he hadn’t been loading his sword case at all. Instead, he was regulating his aura with his fists gripped tight, bright rays of platinum shining through the fine gaps. He had unleashed the full power of Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal, coupled with an explosive outburst of Armorpierce Impetus and the Imperial Sky and Earth Arts! His fist shot out from his waist with a rotation. The qi it unleashed was enough to rip apart any normal garments that he wore under the mantle.

Both fists clashed with a loud boom. An explosion rippled out between the both of them, causing Lu Jin’s long sleeves to violently unravel into tiny fragments. An Jing’s mantle was also blown backward by the shockwave.

Lu Jin was sent flying back while An Jing was forced ten steps back. The patterns on his fist disappeared, revealing the badly bruised flesh on his knuckles and fingers that seemed to suggest that he was worse off from the exchange. Yet, Lu Jin felt nothing but astonishment. How was he able to take it?! How could he?!

Even though An Jing’s injuries seemed severe, they were only skin deep. As long as he could endure the pain in his bones, he could still continue to strike and fight. Lu Jin’s arm, wrist, elbow and shoulder, on the other hand, felt like they were given a gentle twist. It didn’t cause any hidden injuries, but the lingering force tore quite a bit of muscle within the arm, decreasing the amount of force they could output.

This kid used hidden and shifting force... Is he really a teenager from Dustdawn? Even experienced pugilists in their seventies can’t pull off a punch nearly as complicated as he just did! That wasn’t all that Lu Jin would be shocked by. An Jing looked like he didn’t even need to circulate his energy to suppress his injuries. Instead, he pointed his finger toward Lu Jin and shot all the ailments out toward his forehead!

Aerial Swordfinger?! This was a move that wasn’t related to energy circulation at all. Instead, it seemed much more like a curse. Lu Jin could feel the approaching threat like raw electricity under his skin, followed by chills down his spine. He immediately curled up into a ball and narrowly avoided the ailment-filled shot, only losing some of his hair and scalp in the process.

Lu Jin did a backflip and rolled toward one of the shelves near the walls. An Jing didn’t press on and instead calmly loaded his sword case before unleashing another flying sword! Once more, the lightning-rail-propelled projectile bore through the building all the way to the outside, but it didn’t draw any blood.

A shadowy figure charged out from the debris of the destroyed shelf, rapidly closing in on An Jing. Lu Jin’s arms were equipped with a pair of black steel armguards, the actual trump card he had kept hidden the whole time. These were the weapons he was most proficient in using, but he had left them on the shelf, not anticipating that An Jing would come marching in on that day itself. It was also the reason he went on to perform the sacrificial ritual rather than arming up for combat.

Either way, he was finally properly armed. Gripping his steel fists tight, Lu Jin glared at his prey and roared like a majestic feline beast as he closed three zhang of ground with a single step, throwing his power-packed black-brown fist toward An Jing’s head before he could finish reloading!

The punch seemed to contain the essence of a tiger pouncing off a mountain and a bear barreling toward its target, matching up to his moniker of Bestial Fist. Given his level of mastery, it was even harder to counter directly than True Nature Ego Fist, so there was no need to take the direct route!

An Jing removed the shield from his back at a leisurely pace and reinforced it with Evenstar lethal qi before using it to block. The black steel armguards are powerful indeed, but I wonder if it’s harder than my antiexplosion alloy shield?