Destiny in Cinders

Chapter 314: The Keensight Bell’s Toll

”That’s a great suggestion!” An Jing was suddenly reminded that there was always some way out of a dire situation. Not only did he have a relationship with the divine armament, he even had a droplet of imperial blood, yet another hidden trump card! Were it possible to tap into its power without anyone noticing, he would do it. If that wouldn’t fly, he would call out to You Ruhui to see if she could help from a distance.

An Jing was always used to fighting alone, but even he knew that the tribulations that his celestial arc foisted on him were much stronger than what most people faced. He couldn’t just coast by with his power alone and would need all the help he could get.

”Ruhui! Ruhui! Are you there?” An Jing called out through the imperial blood. ”Someone’s trying to hunt me down. I’m running out of energy. Help!”

An Jing wasn’t sure whether there was a delay or not. Back then, his telepathic connection with You Ruhui had been instant. Yet, all that came back was a blurry sound of static.

Fortunately for him, You Ruhui was resting when she heard the message. ”What is... happening... how... I help?”

The reply was a bit delayed, not to mention really noisy, but she was no fool and knew that An Jing wasn’t someone who would call for help as a joke. She didn’t waste words on asking for details and offered to give aid. It was at that moment when a mournful howl came from behind An Jing.

”Fuck!” He kicked off the ground and balled himself up, flying ahead like a cannonball. He didn’t have the time nor mental capacity to think of what to say and repeated one simple word to convey the danger he was in. ”Savesavesavesavesave!”

As he rapidly fired off the desperate call for help, tens of blood birds that let out grieving cries tailed him and blew up where he used to be. A chain of explosions followed wherever he went, spreading ink-like blood lethal qi that carried powerful curses and resentment, corroding the streets around it, turning it into a pitch-black purgatory.

”Ten Directional Suffering Ritual, Punishment Chapter, Cursed Blood.” He Wuchang advanced with his arms behind his back like an enforcer from hell that walked among the world of the living. He stepped on the blood-colored birds in a carefree manner and rose into the air. With a casual point of his finger, he sent countless blood birds in An Jing’s direction, detonating them and leaving many craters along the way.

An Jing tried his best to evade them and had a few close calls where he almost got splattered by the metal-corroding blood of the exploding birds. He Wuchang didn’t seem to be in a rush either, still getting used to the sensation of the brand-new blood-lethal-qi corpus.

It was too bad that his deal with Grand Chen to also take care of the martialists of the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects in Keensight had fallen through. The original plan was for He Wuchang to instigate a fight between martialists of these two sects before letting a few lucky survivors escape to spread the conflict to the Dustdawn Sects. Then, He Wuchang would consume all the martialists that remained to make a blood-lethal-qi clone so as to make up for the internal injuries that Ming Guangchen had dealt him. ℴℴ𝘮

He wasn’t too sure what Grand Chen’s objective was, but it was likely related to sacrificing the city of Keensight as a pretext for going to war against the Hundred Tribes of Dustdawn. There might be even deeper plots that He Wuchang wasn’t aware of, not that he cared too much.

As it currently stood, even though he lost the chance to sacrifice the layfolk of Keensight for their vigor, he traded it for Jing Xuan, who was worth more than a million people on his own. ”What a good seedling! The quality is just superb!”

The more An Jing evaded his attacks, the more excited He Wuchang got. ”It’s weird indeed. I’ve never heard rumors about your existence in Dustdawn. It sounds like you might really be the successor of the Brightmirror Sect’s true legacy, raised in secrecy all this time. Too bad for them. You will be mine!”

Playtime was over. Unlike the wild and jovial nature he outwardly showed, He Wuchang was a careful person that didn’t mess around. He hadn’t been fully focused on trying to capture Jing Xuan. Instead, he was always on edge and ready to escape at any time.

At the end of the day, he hadn’t been able to defeat Ming Guangchen. While his rival was being held up by many other nemeses, including himself, that probably wouldn’t last for long. Not to mention, He Wuchang’s body in Keensight wasn’t his real one, so there was no way he would stand a chance against Ming Guangchen once he returned.

Everything from the flame-lightning, the Heavenly Fiend Dissolution technique Jing Xuan had used earlier and even Ming Guangchen’s ability token could’ve dealt a fatal injury to He Wuchang in his current state. If Jing Xuan and Ming Guangchen still had more tricks up their sleeves, the Lord Inspector of the West wouldn’t have any card to play in response and might end up contributing to Jing Xuan’s unprecedented achievement of counter killing three adepts as a single Fortification martialist.

Even though Bo Zongshan had died by He Wuchang’s hand, he knew that his reputation would get ruined should word of this be allowed to spread nevertheless. That was why he was constantly on edge for any potential trump cards that Jing Xuan could still play despite his superficial display of arrogance.

So far, he still hasn’t used anything... This brat must be running on fumes! Realizing that fact caused him to relax. He raised his right palm like a god of judgment. Behind him, a wheel of blood rippled, forming a red totem that depicted an odd beast with ten necks, nine heads and a feathery bird body. One of the necks was wounded and would never recover, the blood that constantly dripped from it bringing disaster to any spot it fell on.

This was a manifestation of the disastrous miracle arc, Blood for Blood, Nineheaded Ghost Carrier![1] Inky curse-filled blood turned into even more birds, which flew rapidly in circles around He Wuchang, forming glowing halos. The cursed blood bubbled as if they were boiling before they sparked and ignited the qi around them, creating a cloud of burning blood that looked like the head of a bird before it shot toward the youth!

An Jing could feel a bone-deep sensation of scorch mixed with deadly curses homing in on his back from a few hundred zhang away. It was so hot that the bulletproof mantle that he wore began to melt away slowly, destroying the circuit-like defensive patterns underneath. But in the next instant, An Jing vanished into thin air.

”What?!” He Wuchang had lost track of his target completely, completely stunned and ignorant of what happened.

This was You Ruhui’s ability, Hidden Earth! Though she wasn’t aware what was happening to An Jing, he was no doubt in danger of some kind, so she used all her energy to cast Hidden Earth on him from a whole continent away through their blood droplet’s connection.

At the end of the day, An Jing knew Keensight far better than the demonic inspector did, so he quickly made it to the central offices. He snuck in quietly to the center complex.

He Wuchang, however, was a sage who had experienced countless battles and quickly snapped out of his shock. He immediately roared with anger, causing blood lethal qi to scatter from his body in all directions, converting all his energy into a bloody cloud that expanded nonstop to encompass the area where An Jing had disappeared before pressing down hard on it!

Terrifying flames spread in all directions, setting all the buildings alight. The sudden gust of hot, rising air fueled the flames even more, threatening to scorch the entire inner city area! But by then, An Jing had already made it safely into the administrative bureau.

”Keensight Bell!” he called out. The imperial blood droplet in his sea of consciousness trembled, causing the divine armament to resonate with it. It recognized An Jing as the one who had helped it break through and drew on a trace of its power!

All of a sudden, the massive cloud of blood and burning air was scattered by a blinding ray of gold that rose up from the center of Keensight, taking the form of a massive and heavy bell.

***

Far away in the central continent at Ancestral Dragon Hall, You Ruhui, who had been about to visit the human incarnation the Dragon God of the Present with Jin Yanhua, fell into a momentary daze before clutching her mouth forcefully. Then, she coughed out a mouthful of blood.

1. The ghost carrier 鬼车 (Gui Che, sometimes ghost cart/wagon) is a nickname for a mythological bird with nine heads. It’s called ”ghost carrier” because legend says that it carries ghostly spirits across the sky at night. See more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-headed_bird ☜