Destiny in Cinders

An Jing was referring to his home in the northern frontier of Hanhai, not Dustdawn. Seeing all the hardship around him made him wonder how his parents were doing. Yet, worrying wouldn’t amount to much. He had to solve the problems on his end first in order to grow strong enough to be capable of caring for others.

”We’re not too concerned,” Manager Li said proudly. ”Keensight is a stronghold at the borders of Grand Chen. We are defended by a divine armament and a massive terrestrial-vein formation. They even stationed sages here recently. Why would we worry about mere heavenly fiends?”

You should honestly be a bit more worried, he thought. If he hadn’t destroyed Honor Pavilion, Keensight would’ve been reduced to a wasteland populated by one million undead souls under the deathtame fiend’s control. It was too bad he couldn’t reveal it.

Then, a low rumble could be heard coming from deep within the earth. Blessed Virtue Garden shook, causing everyone within to fall silent and look nervously at the ground. Some of them even prepared to run.

”Haha, these folks from minor tribes have probably never seen a true major formation before. They lose their cool over such small things.” Manager Li took An Jing to the window as he consoled some customers along the way. ”Young scions from larger tribes like you are built different. Take a look! The divine armament has manifested! The terrestrial-vein formation is active!”

An Jing watched as patterns of dark gold manifested on the four walls of the city as the ground continued to rumble. The major terrestrial-vein formation was finally active, channeling powerful energy along the walls to ensure they held steady like massive mountains.

At the very end, Keensight’s formation manifested a phantom image of a massive dark-gold bell that covered the entire city protectively, keeping the nonstop frosty breeze outside. At the center of the phantom bell was an actual solid bell of bronze. This was Keensight’s divine armament, the Keensight Bell.

Divine armaments could only be wielded by peak Clearing Realm adepts or stronger. Typically, they were artifacts that were only used by sages of the Void Divine Treasures Realm. When not in use, divine armaments were constantly nurtured and refined by local terrestrial veins. During times of crisis, they could be used as a central pivot for powerful formations to defend against enemies and natural disasters.

Should the formation be destroyed, the divine armament could be used by the martial-official of the city as a weapon or an artifact by a scholar-official as a second line of defense. Otherwise, divine armaments remained tapped into terrestrial veins, which they used to control major formations that set up protective boundaries within which the empire developed cities and hubs.

The Keensight Bell was a yang-aspect divine armament that should’ve been wielded by Majesty Yang Fist Shu Zheng. While Zheng Mo could also activate it, he wasn’t able to use it offensively, being only able to defend the city with it. Even then, it was enough.

The moment the formation activated, the frost that threatened to overwhelm the city vanished completely. A warm sun hung above Keensight, gradually melting the ice within the city and putting an end to the snow calamity there. It was at that very moment that An Jing suddenly felt a violent feedback reaction coming from his Seven Ruins Arc.

Now of all times?! He was shocked to feel the feedback reaction and wondered where it came from. Then, he immediately recalled how every seal manifested by Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal awakened insights into new abilities and how the interaction between the Imperial Sky and Earth Arts could generate new wonders. All the gathered insight didn’t flow smoothly into his mind. Instead, it was hammered and smashed into his consciousness like a meteorite that crashed onto the ground. This was the feedback his celestial arc received after saving the entire city of Keensight! It put him into a dao-comprehension flow state!

A wonder! Even though An Jing was quite interested in the abilities that Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal could unlock, he didn’t think his own insights into the technique would be any better than what an ancient sword immortal like Yvelbane could teach him, even with holes in its memory.

The Imperial Earth Art, however, was different. Though An Jing had grasped many of its fundamentals, his mastery of the art was far from that of its Imperial Sky counterpart. He was still no way near fusing both arts into one to awaken the peak-tier Mahesvara Heaven’s Child wonder. Yet, he seemed to have grasped a unique sensation in his flow state. The Imperial Sky and Earth, heavenly heart, heavenly will, and what Madam Huai had told him about the original precepts of the Heavenly Divine Cult all seemed to coalesce into something.

It’s now or never! Without hesitating, he closed his eyes and entered meditation while still standing. A powerful breeze started blowing outward from An Jing, causing his long, black hair to flutter. Qi essence churned within his body, pulling on qi from the outside world with its momentum. Stream after stream of qi essence circulated more and more, forming a network of protective platinum qi patterns around him. The furniture around him that the defensive projected qi had touched looked as if they had been cut, scattering wood shavings all around.

”Is this the dao-comprehension state?” Manager Li was shocked to see An Jing like that. Ignorant of cultivation as he was, even he knew what kind of mystical state of mind An Jing had suddenly fallen into. ”He’s actually at the Tide Aura Stage?! He hid his power this whole time! Jing Xuan, what faction are you actually a disciple of?!”

All he did was witness the activation of the major terrestrial-vein formation. How did he go from that to a dao-comprehension state? So this was what a true genius was like!

”Somebody! Bring me some screens, quickly!” Manager Li noticed that the state An Jing was in swayed slightly. He couldn’t afford to be distracted in the slightest. Even though most people wouldn’t be able to break through his defensive projected qi, the restaurant’s staff made sure to keep other people clear from An Jing just in case. It took almost no time at all for them to place folding screens around him. The Dustdawners within the establishment noticed the odd change and began to chatter as they looked at the spot An Jing stood at.

”Dao comprehension? Little Li, you did well. Don’t let anyone disturb Master Xuan!” said the chubby, white-haired owner of Blessed Virtue Garden when he arrived. This master chef from the divine capital looked at the folding screens with some disbelief. ”From what I know, martial academies at the divine capital would choose one true polished talent to be sent to the True Martial Arena. It’s said that they possess a treasure that can induce someone into the dao-comprehension state. That’s why all martialists that leave the True Martial Arena are guaranteed to reach the peak of the Clearing Realm. If they advance to become sages, they will be far stronger than their peers!”

Undergoing dao comprehension and having the best teachers and cultivation techniques were enough to ensure that one reached the peak of the Clearing Realm. Martialists who were able to experience the dao-comprehension state even once in their lifetunes were considered true geniuses.

”Dao comprehension?!” Even You Ruhui and Madam Huai were drawn out by the commotion, looking perplexed.

The old woman said, ”I finally understand why Big Brother Feng sent me a message filled with such excitement, saying that he might be promoted and allowed to return to Grand Chen... Being able to die in the hands of a genius like An Jing was a blessing he should be thankful for.”

You Ruhui was already used to Madam Huai’s cultish attitude. Instead, this young princess’s mind was preoccupied with only one thought. He experienced dao comprehension at such a young age... Even my elder cousins have never achieved something like this!