Destiny in Cinders

Just like how artifacts had grades, cultivation techniques also had grades. Lower-grade ones didn’t have a special term and were just referred to as ”techniques.” They tended to comprise a simple cultivation mantra and were equivalent to low-grade cultivation techniques in Void Embrace.

Techniques that were marginally better were labeled ”arts.” They tended to be collections of different techniques that laid the foundation for a complex internal system with component parts that complemented and supported each other, increasing cultivation efficiency and amplifying its efficacy.

Arts were equivalent to mid-grade techniques in Void Embrace and were also the most common form of cultivation technique passed down through families, such as Nian Quan’s True Spirit Eyes. That was a full set of techniques that could be used for cultivating in general as well as a whole system of complementary ocular techniques, such as Throughsight Technique, Slowsight Technique and more.

There was an even more advanced category of techniques called ”arcana.” They were akin to arts, but much more effective and efficient. Nian Quan’s evolved spirit eyes could be considered an arcanum and equivalent to high-grade techniques in Void Embrace. Only large, established clans that had their hands in multiple industries had core techniques in that category. They could even be cultivated into abilities.

The most people in Skysource could get their hands on were arcana. Beyond that were true classics or even sect-defining dao classics. Putting aside normal folk like Huo Qing, even the upper-intermediate elites of Deepnight City wouldn’t be able to obtain techniques of that caliber. Even sages of the Purple Mansion Realm would only have learned one or two of them at most. Those techniques were comparable to transcendent-grade techniques in Void Embrace.

The Imperial Sky Art was considered a decent high-grade arcanum in Void Embrace. Should one be able to comprehend its deeper insights, it would be considered a transcendent-grade technique. Considering that Skysource’s martial cultivation was rather underdeveloped, the Imperial Sky Art was on the level of other true-classic body refinement arcana. By the same logic, typical dao techniques in Skysource would be valued much more in Void Embrace.

”I won’t use it casually, and you must hide it well too!” Huo Qing warned. ”If this gets out, people might come to hound you for your arcanum. They might even resort to killing you!”

Huo Qing got even more worried when he said so. ”Sigh, I’ve already made some progress in it, so no matter how I try to hide it, Uncle Metalhand will notice.”

”I don’t really mind if he knows about it,” An Jing said. Metalhand could be a collaborator of the Justice Restoration Army, so he would no doubt want to keep his identity hidden. There was no way he would spread the word about something so sensitive to draw trouble to himself. ”That arcanum is only one part of the whole. Once you’re done with that, I’ll pass the next part on to you.”

Had An Jing been more powerful, he would try to reach out to the Justice Restoration Army to see what they were about. Were they an actual resistance group or the equivalent of the demonic cult in Skysource?

”Alright, that’s enough.” An Jing motioned his hand to silence Huo Qing. ”If you get good results and join a first-rate academy or even a dao academy, it’ll be good for the both of us. I may be a badlander, but I know the value of a good education. Don’t hold yourself back when I give you something. Just consider it an investment from me in you.”

If not for the fact that he couldn’t be sure whether Nether Capture Soul Domination Divine Curse Mantra by the Sovereign Nether Divinity (abbreviated as the Soul Domination Mantra) was safe, he would’ve passed it on to Huo Qing for him to study in detail. This way, Huo Qing would be able to get two distinctions and stand a chance of being admitted to one of the four great dao academies, the most elite educational institutions in Skysource. This was more than enough to completely alter his fate!

”I... I won’t let you down!” Huo Qing took a deep breath and looked firmly at An Jing, holding his fist out.

An Jing bumped his fist. ”Great, this settles it. I’ll go take a rest now.”

Huo Qing continued to study his formations. Cultivators only needed two to four hours of sleep to maintain wakefulness, so studying for long sessions was just the usual.

An Jing went to the rear building of the recycling house where the two women were. Madam Huai had fallen asleep, fatigued from the strenuous day. You Ruhui, on the other hand, remained seated on the nearby couch, staring at An Jing quietly.

He sat in front of her and said, ”So, Xuan Mingjing?”

”Don’t say that name... You’ll be...” Xuan Mingjing subconsciously looked down when she heard her name, but when she recalled the fact that she was already in a different world, she breathed a sigh of relief. ”Alright, that’s me. But it’s still best not to use that name. Just call me You Ruhui.”

”You Ruhui, Xuan Mingjing...” An Jing repeated the names and shook his head, trying to suppress a laugh. ”The meaning of Xuan and You, black and dark or nether, are so close together! And did you think that inverting Mingjing to Ruhui would work? Are you even trying to hide your name at this point?”[1]

”I don’t wanna hear that coming from you!” You Ruhui spat. ”’Jing Xuan,’ was it? Your alias wasn’t much better either, An Jing! It’s barely different!”

They bantered for a while longer before shifting to talk about serious business.

”So... you actually have the capability of traversing the void... That’s unbelievable!” You Ruhui observed the room she was in, which Huo Qing had cleaned up. She admired the cyber-cultivation aesthetic and couldn’t help but be impressed by it, even though she was someone who had grown up in the most lavish palaces. ”This world’s technical capabilities are comparable, if not outright superior to Void Embrace’s! It’s no wonder you were able to escape Direlife Manor and grow stronger so quickly.”

”It’s one of my abilities,” An Jing said, not revealing that Yvelbane was crucial for the Grandvoid Pathway. ”All you need to know is that we’re only able to stay here for three days at a time. It isn’t long, but it should be enough to shake off any attempts by Grand Chen and the heavenly fiends to find us. Even sages wouldn’t be able to activate their search abilities for every waking moment, so you’re much safer than you were before.”

You Ruhui nodded. ”My gratitude can’t be put into words. Even though I was the one who dragged you into trouble, you helped me to such an extent. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

An Jing shook his head and said, ”If you hadn’t suppressed the terrestrial veins for me, I would’ve had to reveal this ability to the heavenly fiend. Compared to that, revealing it to you is much less severe. That aside, I have some hard facts for you.”

He turned to look at the sleeping Madam Huai. ”The madam’s lifespan is already at its end. It’s not due to any injury, but the limits of her natural life. She suffered lots of hardship throughout her life and even her lifearc wasn’t able to completely make up for her fatal injury. So, don’t feel too bad about it and blame yourself for her current state. The madam made her choice to do one final thing before her life comes to an end.”

”There was a time when I would’ve blamed myself for it, but not anymore,” You Ruhui said resolutely, looking at the madam. ”Father, Mother, Uncle Qiong, Auntie Gu, and Madam Huai... So many people want me to live on. Even someone like you chose to help me. So, I will not let such pointless sentiments weigh me down and cause me to hesitate. I will sur... survive...”

She suddenly looked down and hugged her head as a flash of pain suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She grit her teeth hard, causing her hands to tense up before she loosened them and looked up. Looking somewhat confused when she turned to An Jing, she said, ”Revenge...”

An Jing didn’t know what she had experienced. Though, he could guess the rough beats of what it would take for a commanderial princess of Grand Chen’s imperial bloodline to fall to this extent.

Revenge, huh? He noticed that people with similar motivations often flocked to him, from Bai Qinghan, Nian Quan and even You Ruhui. They always hated something and were always disappointed in something. So, they wanted revenge and destruction. They wanted to break away from the shackles that bound them. They wanted to change the world. They were just like him, but also different. He wasn’t doing this out of hatred. Rather, he arrogantly believed that this world was wrong.

He broke the silence and said, ”I don’t hate anything specifically. Instead, I feel that this world is not quite to my liking. Xuan Mingjing, You Ruhui, I am mostly interested in you for your imperial blood. You are a core member of the imperial dynasty of Grand Chen.”

He closed his eyes calmly and continued. ”I want to know the truth of why you fled from the imperial court. Why is everyone chasing you down, whether in the shadow of the light? You must be someone that can shake and destabilize the entire court.”

”You will die,” said the girl with wide-open, black-gold eyes. ”If they learn that you know the truth, they will chase you down come hell or high water to the ends of the world. They will cut you into countless pieces and scatter you in the nine seas of nether.”

”Hahahaha... Did you know that I was supposed to be a candidate for the position of a divine general in the demonic cult? Even though I managed to escape and still hate them, I’m arguably trying to do the same thing they did. There is already a group of people who are trying to hunt me down to no end, so the court can get in line.”

You Ruhui looked intensely at him, trying to find a hint of fear. But all she saw was curiosity, anticipation and calm patience. First, you escaped the demonic cult and killed fiend followers. Now you’re telling me you want to resist Grand Chen... What an arrogant madman. What kind of person in their right mind can even bring themselves to utter such words?Yet, this madman has just the right ability to back up his madness. He can phase through the void and make an entire world his shield. Perhaps he really can do it...

”Since you told me about your ability, I won’t hide anything from you,” You Ruhui said before she cast a silence sigil. She undid the collar of her shirt and said, ”This is the source of everything.”

A divine jade was embedded in the center of her clavicle. The jade itself was colorless, but it emitted a rainbow glow that illuminated all. The color-shifting light spiraled in a winding manner, resembling serpents and dragons yet not entirely so.

An Jing was initially calm when he set sights on it, but he suddenly felt his celestial arc rumble. Then came Yvelbane’s exclamation of disbelief.

”A divine jade of the Heavenly Dao, the pivot of all things! How could this be?! Why does something like this even have physical form and how could it possibly have shattered into fragments?!”

”What is this?” An Jing asked.

”This is the materialization of the core principle of the Grand Dao of the celestial-terrestrial-vein network! It should be something akin to the concept of existence itself rather than something that has an actual corporeal form, so it doesn’t have an actual name. Even so, the immortals and gods of our time referred to it as the Cosmic Heart.”

1. You 幽 and Xuan 玄 both have connotations relating to darkness. Mingjing 明景 translates to ”bright scene” while Ruhui 如晦 translates to ”like darkness.” ☜