Destiny in Cinders

The roiling mountains that stretched across Grand Chen and Dustdawn resembled massive celestial gods reclining on the ground. Thousands of rivers flowed out from them to nourish the lifeforms in their vicinity. The many peaks, some named, some unnamed, sat there through the ages of Void Embrace, silently observing the changes around them but seemingly never changing themselves... until they suddenly crumbled and burned.

The mountains groaned and shrieked from the burning pain as they fractured from the rising temperatures. Some peaks that reached beyond the clouds crumbled when struck by massive bolts of lightning. The forests across the mountain range were being reduced to stone and ash by the blazing flames and lightning bolts. Massive rocky structures would vanish henceforth from that area, leaving nothing but a deep basin behind that would either form flat plains or massive lakes.

A fearsome battle continued to unfold, completely oblivious to the crumbling landscape. Since All-Heaven Myriadform Divine Mirror fell apart, Ming Guangchen had been on his back foot and could no longer fight back. He had just used an ability he had yet to properly master, only for it to be disrupted by an enemy, which drained him of the last traces of power that he had. Ming Guangchen was only barely holding on with what meager amount of innate qi remaining within his body.

The void altar should be charged up by now. Here’s hoping An Jing was able to leave for the northern frontier.

Before him was a cycle of five revolving colors, their mixture of which derived into twenty-four different transformations. Every single one took the form of a wondrous flashing sword. All of them intersected and assembled into a massive net that threatened to trap Ming Guangchen and refine him into nothing.

At the center of the net was an undefined singularity, capable of eroding away yin, yang and all five aspects, comprising a hazy, almost void-like sword intent of mass destruction. The sword intent caused the void around them to distort. Every slash was accompanied by winds, rains, thunder and lightning as well as gravel and flames.

The five-colored radiance began to spread its inexhaustible power wider and wider. This was the Grand Pentaphase Annihilation Sword Formation. None of the aspects of the five phases were able to defend against its sword intent of pure destruction. The only things that could slow it down were the forces of yin, yang, lightning, arcane cosmic light, or a polar-opposite cycle of the five phases that generated the power of creation.

Fortunately for Ming Guangchen, he had cultivated the signature spirit and lethal qi that of the Brightmirror Sect: mystic clarity light qi. It was a unique and profound type of qi that came from the sun and the wider cosmos that allowed him to fold wind, rain and sunlight into a mirror to divert the destructive sword intent enough so that it didn’t cut off his head in a single strike, but that was his limit. Ming Guangchen could no longer retreat, for if he did, his defenses would falter and he would immediately be beheaded by the void-aligned divine sword of five phases.

The All-Heaven Myriadform Divine Mirror works by capturing a reflection of all things and leveraging the power of creation to give rise to countless miraculous effects. It should’ve been able to resist this destructive sword intent, but my cultivation is too weak and my vital-origin mirror isn’t able to sustain it.

Ming Guangchen calmly analyzed the situation despite being at death’s door. His foe was a swordsman hidden in the void. He was also a powerful peak-level sage who could reach the Altar Sanctification Realm at any point, armed with a far more impressive weapon than Ming Guangchen’s.

The grand sword formation was likely a grand ability in the same vein as All-Heaven Myriadform Divine Mirror. No normal divine armament could bear the burden of unleashing such an ability. It was most likely an elite divine armament that could almost be considered a celestial armament.

Naturally, Ming Guangchen wouldn’t be in so much trouble from a mighty weapon alone. The abilities that he possessed mainly manipulated dense concentrations of spirit and lethal qi, so he had many methods at his disposal to avoid directly locking weapons with the enemy.

But with Sage Heart Beckon and Sage Turbid Wave and He Wuchang’s blood-curse formation suppressing him, his hands were already too full to properly face off against another sage-level swordsman. Knowing that he was knee-deep in a difficult situation, the only thought on his mind was whether he could at least mount a final stand and learn something about this mysterious swordsman before warning Jin Yanhua and the rest about him, ensuring that they protected An Jing and You Ruhui.

What the hell?! Why hasn’t An Jing left yet? Ming Guangchen’s anxiety washed over him. The void altar had clearly charged up to full, yet it didn’t do anything. There were only two possibilities. Either An Jing was caught up in a dangerous situation and couldn’t activate it to leave, or he had his own plans and didn’t leave as he was told.

Oh, an opening.

Ming Guangchen, perhaps from fatigue or being distracted by turning to look at the void altar, accidentally relaxed the mirror that had been diverting the destructive sword intent away. The mysterious swordsman within the void easily spotted the opportunity and unleashed another devastating sword slash. That was the moment when Ming Guangchen felt his entire body lighten all of a sudden.

The arcane power that he had applied to suppress someone else lost its target and returned to his grasp, allowing him to manifest more and more void mirrors to deflect the sword slash. It wasn’t just Ming Guangchen; even the mysterious swordsman was surprised by the sudden shift.

What in the... Did He Wuchang pull his blood curse back? The moment that thought occurred to him, he immediately realized what could possibly have led to this: The arcane corpus of blood that he had sent to Keensight had been killed by An Jing!

What in the world is that inspector of the Heavenly Divine Cult doing?! thought the mysterious swordsman angrily. I was just about to finish off this unpredictable variable of the Northblack Sacrifice Continent!

After obtaining abilities that allowed one to traverse the void at the Treasures Realm, sages could easily escape if they found themselves outmatched unless they were facing someone a whole realm or more above them. The mysterious swordsman had arranged for the others to gang up on Ming Guangchen and also had He Wuchang apply blood-curse tracking to him to keep him anchored to the corporeal world.

All this while, the swordsman only needed to attack using his divine armament while he camped out in the void. He wasn’t just doing this to hide himself. It also served to seal off Ming Guangchen’s void escape path. But with the blood curse gone, Ming Guangchen could flee in the corporeal world even if the void was sealed off!

The mysterious swordsman had no choice but to leave the void, even if he exposed his real identity, so that he could kill Ming Guangchen with his full power. Right before he stepped out of the void, however, while Ming Guangchen was still busy recovering and contemplating how he could learn the identity of the mysterious swordsman, just as He Wuchang was about to turn tail and flee from the cursed land that foiled him at every turn, An Jing’s voice rang out.

”I am Jing Xuan, disciple of Ming Guangchen and follower of the lord of the Brightmirror Sect’s Dawnlight Peak as well as an inheritor of the core teachings! I am also An Jing, a traitor of the Heavenly Demon Cult and the leader of those who escaped Direlife Manor!”

His voice rumbled like thunder, echoing explosively in the minds of everyone across the land.

”I am only at the Fortification Realm, yet I have slain one adept each from the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects as well as He Wuchang, the demonic cult’s Lord Inspector of the West. Consider this proof of my proclamation that I am none other than Void Embrace’s first divine-arc bearer of the current era!”

”Fuck!” He Wuchang also heard the proclamation from the deep mountains. His face turned ashen gray immediately. ”My reputation... everything up till now and going forward... It’s ruined!”

***

At Whitemountain Pass, situated at the border of Grand Chen between Xishan and Hanhai, venerateds and transcendents of the five Dustdawn Sects were in a negotiation with Grand Chen’s North Pacification Sentinel King and Northwestern Sentinel King. The proceedings were relatively tepid with neither side racing to raise the tension.

Members of the imperial clan were of high and noble birth, true successors of a heavenly sect’s legacy. However, the mere act of cultivation became troublesome once they left Grand Chen’s borders. There was a good reason not a single venerated of the Sanctification Realm had risen outside of Grand Chen’s borders despite there being close to a hundred members of the imperial bloodline who had betrayed the imperial court. Clearly, the benefits of imperial blood were tied to the imperial court.

As the negotiations went on, one of the three Pure Yang transcendents from Dustdawn, Transcendent Rising Light, suddenly turned to look in Keensight’s direction. The other transcendents and sentinel kings’ brows furrowed as they fell into deep thought. After that, the venerateds of both sides used their abilities to observe things from a distance before turning to the members of the Brightmirror Sect.

”Since when did the Brightmirror Sect gain another core successor? Is he Mystic Mirror’s disciple?”

”A divine arc? Is that true? Did the heavens really grace the world with a divine-arc bearer?”

”A great era is upon us... Did the ten continents finally get its first divine-arc bearer?”

These shocked venerateds were mostly from the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects.

Grand Chen’s delegates, on the other hand, were full of smiles.

”Oh, and the adepts even got killed by someone at the Fortification Realm. Hahaha! If that’s the case, then he really does deserve to bear a divine arc!”

The expressions of the venerateds of the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects soured terribly. It was already embarrassing enough that adepts from their sects went to bully a Fortification Realm junior. If they really lost as An Jing had claimed, they would remain laughing stocks for the centuries to come! The only thing that could help them save some face was if he truly bore a divine arc, which would make him highly exceptional.

Then again, the demonic cult’s Lord Inspector of the West was backing up the adepts from the other two sects. He Wuchang was counted among the younger generation’s more promising talents. The fact that there was a good chance that he would reach the Sanctification Realm in the future was clear to the venerateds present at the negotiation.

Knowing what kind of methods He Wuchang employed, they knew that he wouldn’t go out of his way to bully An Jing in person and would at most send an adept-level arcane corpus to do the job. Yet, he not only failed to achieve his objective, but became a stepping stone for An Jing in the process! This horrific fiasco was enough to overshadow the humiliating defeat of the two sects’ adepts.

”That was a magnificent display of talent from your juniors,” Transcendent Grand Martial of the Poolsea Sect said without a change in expression. Instead, he turned to meet Rising Light’s gaze. ”Your sect is truly fortunate to have taken the first divine-arc bearer into your fold.”

Transcendent Posterity Swamp of the Grandnight Sect also turned around with a dark gaze that made his youthful face appear rather gloomy.

Rising Light smiled without saying a word. Beside him, Ming Guangchen’s master, Venerated Shrouded Dust, approached and bowed deeply to Rising Light. ”Grand Elder, I—”

Before he finished, Rising Light stroked his beard and shook his head to stop him. ”Do not be hasty, Shrouded Dust. I know that you’re anxious, but I’ve already observed the weaves of Mystic Mirror’s tapestry of fate. His opportunity to sanctify his altar comes on this very day.”