Destiny in Cinders

Venerated Vast Light was the one who had lost both parents to a plague. Her parents that had done their best to ensure her survival left quite the deep impression on her. As such, she couldn’t bear to hear about parents being separated from their children and found An Jing’s priorities rather praiseworthy.

”It’s difficult,” Hidden Shadow said. ”At the end of the day, An Jing is a citizen of Grand Chen. The empire might be trying to keep him within their borders so that they can do their best to pull him to their side. Surely, they’re more than willing to make an exception for bearers of divine arcs.”

”Dear Seniors,” said the youngest peak ruler among them, the ruler of Firstlight Peak, ”putting other matters aside, let’s say An Jing finds his mother and wants to return to our sect. Do you all think that Grand Chen will...”

While all eight peak rulers were at the Sanctification Realm, Shrouded Dust, Hidden Shadow and Vast Light were at the peak of the Sanctification Realm. The rulers of the Primalray and Grandluminous Peaks were the eldest among them and no longer took part in the sect’s internal discussions often. The other three peak rulers were relatively young and didn’t have enough power nor experience, so they often struggled to make their views heard.

”I don’t believe they will,” Shrouded Dust said, shaking his head. ”The dao that Grand Chen follows is one based on law and order. We should be more concerned about their efforts to recruit An Jing before he returns to the sect. Then again, that also means that they will ensure his safety. He would be much safer in Grand Chen than in Dustdawn, at the very least.”

He then turned to look at the silent Hidden Shadow. ”My nephew-disciple Lucid Stain and my own disciple, Guangchen, have fallen prey to the plots by other sects. There are faint traces of the other four sects’ involvement, not to mention another powerful faction whose identity we don’t know.

”The mysterious swordsman that attacked Guangchen with destructive sword intent of the five phases is no doubt a core successor from an upper sect. However, he didn’t use his actual technique and only used a generic true intent of the five phases, something available to any rogue martialist. It was a clear attempt at obfuscating his identity. That’s why, our first priority is to cleanse Voidsight Mountain within and without to ensure that nothing catches us off guard.”

”Indeed.” The other peak rulers nodded their assent. Typically, they were far too busy with their own affairs that it was hard to get all of them together for a discussion about the sect’s future. Their assembly at the negotiations at Whitemountain Pass was a rare opportunity, and they managed to reach a rare consensus.

”How should the sect help An Jing, then?” someone asked.

Shrouded Dust had been ready to answer that question for quite a while. ”Reputation and power. First, we’ll use our sect’s connections to spread An Jing’s achievement of killing three adepts within Grand Chen. We’ll openly proclaim him to be a member of our sect and let An Jing’s mother know that his son is seeking him.”

”This comes with some risk,” said the ruler of Roundmuslin Peak. ”What if the demonic cult or the other sects start to hunt down his mother?”

”We’ll inform An Jing and his mother about the risk,” Shrouded Dust said, shaking his head. ”An Jing must’ve already told his mother what he would do. There’s no way he’d just rush to the northern frontier without any consideration. They must’ve agreed to reunite at a specific location. As long as we warn them about the other factions, they’ll meet in private without causing any commotion. Not to mention, while the agreement stipulates that we can’t send martialists into Grand Chen, it doesn’t stop the layfolk among us from crossing the border.”

Shrouded Dust laughed and continued, ”We’ll mobilize the merchants of our sect to contact An Jing and ensure that he gets the full treatment and resources that a core successor deserves. This will help him grow stronger much faster! That’s the ’power’ part of the equation.

”With that much power and reputation on hand, a talented divine-arc bearer like An Jing should be more than equipped to deal with the troubles that come his way. Any more interference will become nothing but a hindrance to his arc and karmic chain. Let’s put our trust in him.”

As a divine arc hadn’t manifested in tens of thousands of years, none of the peak rulers knew the proper protocol of handling it. They chose to trust the words of An Jing’s grandmaster.

Soon, the many merchants of the Brightmirror Sect rolled into action. The storytellers at the northern frontier quickly received a request and some funding. It took only two weeks for the tale of the Brightmirror Sect’s core successor defeating three adepts to spread all across the northern frontier.

***

Wu Prefecture, situated in Hanhai Circuit, was a place with many lakes and rivers. The climate there was temperate thanks to the regular rainfall, resulting in roiling mists all across the prefecture apart from the peak summer season. The city of Northauspice was built where hundreds of rivers and waterways intersected. Everyone in the city that wished to go to one place or another had to either cross the vast network of bridges or take a ferry to their destination. Sprites and humans that lived on this land had high affinity with water spirit qi.

The many waterways that ran across the prefecture were so rarely exposed to sunlight to the point that they generated a hint of lesser yin qi that helped with extending lifespans. However, layfolk that came into contact with too much lesser yin qi suffered from soul corruption and mental destabilization. While their bodies benefited from lesser yin qi, their minds and souls weakened as a consequence.

To benefit from its health effects, one had to either have a potent meditation technique or live in a skyscraper that rose above the fog and be exposed to direct sunlight daily. Alas, how tall could they possibly afford to build? Most layfolk were mired in the never-ending fog day and night and had no choice but to recite their mental mantras. As the nights fell on Northauspice, one would still be able to hear the soft whispers of the chanting all across the city.

At the outskirts of Northauspiece, an old woman was washing her clothes at the riverbank. Typically, activities that required long periods of contact with flowing water was something that only the old could do. The youths who were still filled with vitality would be nourished by the qi-infused water and end up far too vigorous to get a good night’s sleep. Granted, martialists would be completely fine, but what kind of martialist would wash their own clothes?

After she was done, the old woman delivered the clothes back to the inn. The laundry had belonged to the inn’s guests. The old woman was given food, lodging and a small salary that she didn’t even have to spend in exchange for doing the inn’s laundry and didn’t want for anything.

In the inn’s main hall, saliva particles splattered from the storyteller’s mouth as he blabbered on about a tale tirelessly. The old woman gave the odd sight a curious look. What was a storyteller doing in a tiny inn at the outskirts instead of a theater? The guests that stayed in this inn were as stingy as they came and would never deign to tip a storyteller for his tale.

The old woman was just about to claim her day’s pay and return to her room to meditate and nurture her aura. She was still far too weak for her liking. She would need to be at the River Aura Stage at least to be able to venture into the northern frontier alone. Given her talent and age, it would be quite difficult for her to reach the Tide Aura Stage without any outside help, but the River Aura Stage was still manageable given enough time of careful meditation.

It wasn’t too long ago since her clan crumbled. Her husband was missing and her son’s whereabouts were unknown. She had drifted all the way to the north before finally finding a place she could cultivate in peace and solitude.

I need more money to afford herbal ingredients to make the vigor boosters according to the martial manuals. Coupled with my recent cultivation progress, I should be able to reach the River Aura Stage soon.

The lack of time and resources were the biggest obstacles that normal martialists had to overcome. Had the old woman not pawned off many of her valuables, she wouldn’t have been able to save up enough money for those precious herbal ingredients.

Right as she was about to leave the inn’s main hall for the shed behind it, she heard the storyteller mention the name ”An Jing.” All of a sudden, she stopped and listened quietly, slowly realizing that this wasn’t a mere case of an identical name by coincidence.

Northern frontier... An clan of Gufeng County... Sold himself to the demonic cult for his mother, and eventually betrayed the cult and killed many adepts...

She froze on the spot as hot tears trickled down her face. She was so shaken that she didn’t even hear the part about the divine arc clearly. ”Is this... is this my son?”

The old woman was surrounded by an entire retinue of demonic-cult martialists who had disguised themselves as travelers, inn guests, servants and scholars. They had bought the inn long ago but left the former owner in charge of its operations.

”It finally reached her ears. Hiring storytellers to spread the word wasn’t a waste of our money at all,” said the leader of the group who noted the raw, emotional reaction. Most people wouldn’t see her as anything more than an old woman with a penchant for stories.

The group breathed a long sigh in relief. ”Quick! Notify our divine mistress! It finally worked!”

Not long after at the top floor of the inn, a squad leader activated his waterscreen and made his report. ”Madam Shen Mubai, mother of An Jing, has learned of his exploits at the northern frontier. Divine Mistress, do you have any further orders?”

A calm, clear and measured voice of a young girl came from the other end of the waterscreen. ”Protect her. If she intends to go look for him, keep an eye on her from the shadows. Make sure she is safe. Do not show yourselves. We have to help her find An Jing. That’s how we’ll be able to find him too.”