Destiny in Cinders

”Cosmic Heart...” The instant An Jing heard that phrase, he felt a profound sensation. It was as if he had fallen into a sea of endless vastness and depth, yet overflowing with emptiness. The sea seemed identical to his very being, relinquishing the need for him to breathe. It was a pocket of space that didn’t need to exist, yet contained him. It was above him, yet also below him, within him and also without. The Cosmic Heart was the heart of the cosmos, yet the cosmos was also its heart. It existed, yet at the same time was existence itself.

He shook his head to snap out of the trance. ”What can it be used for?”

”I don’t know,” Yvelbane said matter-of-factly.

”Wait, you don’t?”

Hearing his disbelief, the sword soul explained, ”It’s not that I’m unaware of what it does. It’s more a matter of how difficult it is to put into words. An Jing, the Cosmic Heart is the central pivot of the Grand Dao. In theory, there’s nothing it can’t do. It encompasses all in Void Embrace, from the highest of immortal heavens to the lowest of nether seas, including all beings that stretch across all directions, everything in the truest sense of the word. Things that you understand, things that you can’t even hope to, can be contained within it and explained.

”Ask yourself. What is the meaning of life? Even if you can give an answer to that question, would it be universally and timelessly applicable? Are you sure that answer will never change? The Cosmic Heart is to the cosmos such an unanswerable question. A question that’s ever-changing, never having a concrete answer. Change is the only constant property of the Cosmic Heart. How can I know what the Grand Dao does? It’s a concept that words try and inevitably fail to grasp!”

The dao that can be told is not the Eternal Dao. I see, so that’s how it is. That explanation seemed to give An Jing some insight. ”So it’s that kind of thing. It’s no wonder that it shouldn’t have a corporeal form at all.”

”And yet, here we are. It exists in our physical realm. That can only mean one thing,” Yvelbane said forebodingly. ”Something is really wrong with the Heavenly Dao of Void Embrace. Not only did the dao corporealize, it also shattered into fragments.”

His conversation with Yvelbane happened within the instant he set sights on the dragonjade embedded in You Ruhui’s clavicle. The divine jade was a fragment of the Cosmic Heart. You Ruhui was likely only able to use such incredible abilities by borrowing the power of this treasure. More than likely, Hidden Earth was just one of the many things that it was capable of. It could also be part of a massive ritual formation.

The highest excellence is like that of water. Water benefits all things, and flows in a manner of least resistance, struggling against none, flowing into places that all dislike. The nature of water approaches that of the Dao.[1]

Water is formless, and so is the Dao. Water has no fixed state, and neither does the Dao. Yet, to use a rather forced analogy, the Heavenly Dao of Void Embrace—the water, so to speak—had been frozen solid and even shattered. It was incredibly difficult to imagine its current state. Yet, many dao precepts of Void Embrace still functioned, such as ”ingesting the vile to restore the truth.”

”It is a dragonjade,” You Ruhui said, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed about exposing her upper chest. ”My father, King Jing, one of the Eight Sentinel Kings, passed this divine item to me. He said that it is a shard of the dragon-qi source and a crucial component of Grand Chen’s massive ritual formation: the Northblack Celestial National Defense Grand Formation, as well as the core of the ritual to grant heavenly and earthly mandates. I heard that it contains more secrets, but I have no idea what they are.”

An Jing sighed after hearing it all, much to You Ruhui’s puzzlement. ”Why are you sighing? I can understand if you’re excited or scared, but that wasn’t quite the reaction I was expecting.”

An Jing shook his head and said, ”Fasten your collar up first. I’m sighing because I am once more sensing the machinations of fate at work.”

He had already guessed that it was no typical artifact. In fact, it was far more important than he could have imagined. The North Chen Empire was one of the ten heavenly sects. The Northblack Celestial National Defense Grand Formation, in a manner of speaking, was one of the most powerful sect-defense formations. An Jing struggled to even imagine what it was capable of.

Yet, the dragonjade’s role in giving mandates was even more crucial. The grand formation defended the nation physically, being made up of walls and fortifications. The institution of mandates, on the other hand, was the symbol of law and order of Grand Chen, the true beating heart of the nation.

And yet, a piece of that heart had appeared before An Jing, the bearer of the Seven Ruins Arc. He struggled to imagine the consequences of such a thing had he been like the former bearers of the Seven Ruins Arc who wanted nothing but to overthrow Grand Chen. You Ruhui and the dragonjade would be integral to his plans should he wish to emerge victorious against Grand Chen. It was such a tempting opportunity that it didn’t even feel like an option and was predestined instead.

However, he did feel like he had other options at his disposal. ”The source of dragon qi... The imperial court is only able to maintain dominion over the skies and seas and grant officials control over terrestrial veins using the Cosmic Heart. That’s how you’re able to cast your ability on me even though we were so far apart. This is exactly how granting mandates work!”

What if there are only ten heavenly sects because there are only ten shards of the Cosmic Heart? Maybe each sect only has one, which they can use to grant special powers in a manner similar to mandates!

An Jing wanted to continue theorizing about the true nature of mandates and the heavenly sects. He had a feeling that while this alone wouldn’t be enough to form an independent base for cultivation, the gaps could be filled by proper martial and immortal qi cultivation. If he wanted to build a faction in the future, having something like that would be an incredible help. This was likely the true foundation of a heavenly sect.

As thoughts raced through his mind, he noticed You Ruhui do something that caused him to widen his eyes in shock.

”An Jing, take this.” She dug her nail into where her heart would be, frowning as she drew out a drop of dark-red blood with a hint of gold. The droplet hovered in front of the dragonjade. It was quite distinct from her actual blood; there were traces of mundane blood on her finger but they dried off quickly enough, vanishing into nothing.

The hovering droplet was the only thing that remained. It looked saturated and complete, resembling golden mercury. It gave off the heavy air of mountains and exuded a pressure that could dominate all under the heavens.

Then, the True Talisman within An Jing’s sea of consciousness rumbled. This massive talisman that was deeply intertwined with the nature of life itself had remained dormant most of the time, only activating when there was mystical qi to convert. This time was different, however. It rumbled wildly and uncontrollably as if it had sensed something it deeply desired, though Yvelbane stepped in and suppressed its wild thrashing.

Then, the droplet of blood took on some of the rainbow color of the dragonjade, shining faintly. You Ruhui willed the droplet to hover toward An Jing and said, ”This is imperial blood.”

1. Quoted from Chapter 8 of the Dao De Jing. ☜