Destiny in Cinders

Ming Guangchen just dropped a load of bombshells on An Jing. He froze completely and struggled to process all of it at the same time. Ming Guangchen also started off from an evil cult? The fiend cult? He also managed to discern that I have a divine arc? Wait, putting that aside, his lifearc is Unshining Sun and Moon? I guess it makes sense that he’s blind and can only see with arcane eyes. But then, he’s Hexsun Mystic Mirror! The techniques he uses are all orthodox yang-aspect techniques of the Hexsun! How does that work with Unshining Sun and Moon?

At the very least, the part about the sage being saved by King Jing wasn’t that difficult to believe. That was likely why King Jing placed so much trust in him. Either way, An Jing finally understood why Ming Guangchen had such mixed feelings about him.

”When I learned back then that a miracle-arc bearer awakened in Direlife Manor and instantly awakened an ability and went on to lead the rest to rebel against the cult and escape the manor, the only thing on my mind was to find you as soon as possible. I would consider whether to kill or observe you after that. Letting you freely roam the land simply wasn’t an option,” Ming Guangchen said as he continued to carry An Jing through the clouds, launching off platforms of light at great speed. In no time at all, they were already above Keensight.

”You should know that the Heavenly Demon Cult won’t nurture people with lifearcs with lethal qi that’s too powerful. Instead, they’ll cite all sorts of reasons to let them roam in the wilds to allow the destinies of other beings and people to shape and hone their lethal qi. Once the lifearc bearer is able to control their lethal qi, the cult will appear before them once more and invoke their karmic link to bring them back into the fold.”

”So you believed that I was one of those lifearc bearers that the cult intentionally allowed to roam outside.” An Jing sighed when he finally understood why the demonic cult didn’t seem to mind traitors who tried to escape in the slightest. This was all part of the program.

”That was how I felt initially. Not everyone in Endmost Sky is a good person. There are always a few bad apples mixed in among them. But now, I feel differently about you,” Ming Guangchen said. ”The reason for that is how you still remember that you have a mother at all despite being the bearer of a divine arc. This is incredibly rare. Even though bearers of divine arcs have incredible power and lethal qi, they’re also far too complex for the demonic cult to control. In other words, your will manifests itself stronger in how events turn out. Despite all that, you still remember that you’re mommy’s boy. That proves that you’re a good person.”

Even though the sage sounded like he was teasing An Jing, there was truth to his words. Most people who underwent the brainwashing program of the demonic cult would’ve long abandoned their parents. It wasn’t that they didn’t love their parents. In fact, if their parents were able to live alongside them, demonic cultists would care for them and love them like normal people, perhaps even more in comparison.

But as long as they didn’t actually see their parents, demonic cultists were able to completely pretend that they never existed in the first place. Their hearts and minds never wandered to their past or parents. These deeply ingrained and aberrant thought patterns ensured that the cultists would never be able to live in normal society and eventually choose to return to the demonic cult.

”Is Dustdawn that dangerous right now?” An Jing asked as they were landing in Keensight. ”Xuan Mingjing was planning to go to your sect to wait out the chaos. But from how I see you act, you believe that doing so is akin to jumping into a firepit.”

”Your observation is keen indeed.” Ming Guangchen nodded and looked in the direction of Dustdawn solemnly. ”Trouble has appeared north of Dustdawn. You might not know this yet, but the snow calamity was actually caused by an ancient battle between immortals and fiends. The spread of the snow calamity made the True Fiend Cult more and more active. The numbers of fiendfallen and immortalfallen martialists in Dustdawn grow by the day too, causing the five feuding mountain sects of Dustdawn to work together. They’re about to join up with other masters from Grand Chen to head to the coldest north to stop the snow calamity at its source.”

An Jing noticed another new term: immortalfallen. He understood fiendfallen, which was an entity that emerged from a being corrupted by fiend qi. So, why did immortalfallen mean? Ming Guangchen made it sound like common knowledge among experts like him. It was too bad that An Jing’s ancestors were nothing of the sort. Their clan archives hadn’t contained any information about it.

He pulled his thoughts back and recalled what happened in Direlife Canyon. ”Are you saying that the heavenly fiend that manifested in Direlife Canyon got unsealed because of the snow calamity’s influence?”

”That’s right.” Ming Guangchen and An Jing landed on a street in Keensight. Most people merely saw them appear in a flash of light.

As Blessed Virtue Garden kept on spreading word of An Jing’s deeds and his dao-comprehension state, quite a lot of people recognized him. And while Ming Guangchen looked no different from a handsome man with graying hair and closed eyes, the flash from earlier was enough to prove that he was a powerful martialist. Quite a lot of people bowed to him in fear. This was Ming Guangchen’s intention anyway. He wanted An Jing to draw attention to him as they walked to the administrative offices of Keensight.

Along the way, Ming Guangchen said, ”The heavenly fiend sealed in Direlife Canyon was one that had been there for as far back as anyone can remember. It might be an ancient heavenly fiend that was sealed before the founding of Grand Chen. With the flow of fate disturbed, it managed to break the seal and enter into this world, heralding disaster. In fact, ancient heavenly fiends like them weren’t the only ones to enter this world. A divine-arc bearer like you also descended upon it.”

Here it was. An Jing recalled his every action as he asked, ”Sage, how did you... how were you able to tell that I bear a divine arc?”

”You already displayed the ability to use blood lethal qi back at Direlife Manor. Many among the Crimsonguard can attest to that. Maybe you’re just not familiar enough with how lifearcs and the martial path interact. If your lifearc only manifested as Pyrestar Warden, you wouldn’t have been able to control metal-yang innate qi during your earlier demonstration.

”The lifearc is what determines our innate qi. Even though converting it is possible, most people train martial techniques that are suited to their lifearcs. Yet, you’re so young and have clearly not learned any conversion technique. Those of us that are aware of your identity are instantly able to tell that you have the lifestars of Pyrestar and Evenstar, making you a half-awakened divine-arc bearer.”

Ming Guangchen’s tone turned stern. ”If you’re trying to hide it, you have to be careful. When you pass yourself as An Jing, make sure to only use blood lethal qi and innate qi of disastrous flames. As Jing Xuan, only use gold-yang and righteous innate qi. This is how you can keep your identity hidden without going out of your way to do anything specific. Do not reveal that you can use both unless it’s do-or-die.”

”I appreciate the guidance.” An Jing would restrict himself to using the Imperial Sky and Earth Arts, while Jing Xuan would only use Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal. However, An Jing would still be able to benefit from the body refinement enhancements of the seals undetected. People would at most see him as someone with extraordinary talent. As for Jing Xuan, he could use Qiform Arsenal to manifest blood or metal lethal qi since others wouldn’t be able to tell what kind of lethal qi it was in that form. He smiled and said, ”With these two identities, I’ll be able to do many things in secret!”

Coupled with masking his spirit-qi imprint, An Jing could attempt to use two different identities in Skysource to expand his opportunities as well.

”Destiny and vocation are inextricably linked. If you do not fulfill your vocation, you will not be able to bear your destiny,” Ming Guangchen said, admiring An Jing’s ambitious attitude. ”Putting aside your divine arc, even bearers of mixed arcs have to constantly fulfill their lifearc destinies to be able to improve. If someone with a Royal Chef Arc does not strive for culinary excellence, they would be no different from a common person. You have to stick close to your nature. Destiny is like a boat sailing upstream. If no progress is made, you’ll only deteriorate.”