Destiny in Cinders

The black market, or rather, the ”special market” of Deepnight City (considering that it had the official backing of the Luofo Group), held a tournament with two separate segments for youths and adults.

The youth group’s participants were from the various middle schools of the city, most of them being at the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm with a select few being fresh in the Qi Refinement Realm, though none beyond the third level. As for the adult group, most of them were students from the more advanced academies. The weakest of them was at the intermediate phase of Qi Refinement, that was to say, starting from the fourth level. The average was expected to be at the sixth level or those that had reached the advanced phase of Qi Refinement, cultivators who have awakened psychic sense.

Nian Quan had managed to reach the Tide Essence Stage as of late, the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm. This was only to be expected for someone with celestial spirit roots. The only reason his cultivation had been behind his peers’ was that he had neither the proper guidance nor the resources required to grow.

Now that he had grasped sword intent and reached this level of cultivation, he wasn’t expected to face any real competition within the youth group. Even if he ran into people of similar talent who had broken through to the Qi Refinement Realm, they were likely not a match against his sword intent.

At the end of the day, the advantage Qi Refinement cultivators had over those at the Spirit Awakening Realm was the amount of spirit energy they had access to, which dictated the power and destructive potential of the spells and techniques they could use, such as riding on wind or defensive light barriers rather than mundane applications of qi essence on the body. Sword intent, however, was psychic will itself, confined to and manifested from a specific vessel, generating a unique type of sword lethal qi. This was useful even at the Foundation Building Realm for breaking through as well as cutting through spells and barriers.

In essence, any advantage a Qi Refinement cultivator would have over Nian Quan was negated. He had easily obtained first place during the martial evaluation that was held all at once for the ten middle schools in his district. He defeated the rising star and fellow student of Third Middle School with flying colors.

The principal, He Yongzhi, kept his end of the bargain and granted Nian Quan lots of cultivation resources and even let him keep the prizes he won from the evaluation for his own use. The only thing Nian Quan had to do was to engage in promotional activities for his school by joining the tournaments they selected. The tournament hosted by the special market was one of them.

”I’m not sure I’ll be able to get first place this time,” Nian Quan said, sitting at the back of the airship with Principal He. He spoke casually, gaze fixed on the tall buildings outside and the shrinking streets below as the airship took off. ”The participants from First Middle School all have celestial spirit roots and are descendants of Purple Mansion cultivators. They’re mostly at the Qi Refinement Realm too. That alone puts me at a disadvantage. Not to mention, they are sure to have Foundation Building cultivators as their personal coaches on top of being showered with cultivation resources. I’m sure they have other powerful techniques that are just as mighty as my sword intent.”

If this were a normal tournament, Nian Quan would definitely put in the work to win to secure more cultivation resources rather than speak so pessimistically about his chances. It wasn’t uncommon for third-level Qi Refinement cultivators to lose to those who were only at Spirit Awakening during competitions like these. While the latter was usually from the bloodline of a true spirit, it still showed that the gap between Spirit Awakening and Qi Refinement wasn’t so large that it was insurmountable.

However, the students of First Middle School were in a different league altogether. Their school only accepted the most talented students in all of Deepnight City. Every single one cultivated using an arcanum of their clan, all uniquely skilled and talented.

Students of this caliber typically wouldn’t even join normal tournaments. First, the prize money offered by the tournaments wasn’t even close to the allowance they received. Not to mention, all of them were proud scions whose sole focus was to gain entry into the four prime dao academies to become inheritors of the legacies of the four primordial deities of Skysource, at least in name. They would never deign to waste their time on petty tournaments.

But if they did choose to join them, they were practically uncontested. Based on the few times it happened, the students of First Middle School always ended up disappointed even after obtaining first place, thinking it a whole waste of time. The tournament didn’t put up nearly as much challenge as their school’s internal evaluations did. It simply wasn’t the kind of pressure that they yearned for, the kind that would push them to grow.

Typically, the special market’s tournament wasn’t enough of a draw for the likes of them either. However, the promise of a spirit artifact as the grand prize and the attendance of important figures from the Skywatch Bureau and the Luofo Group drew quite a crowd. This was simply not something that the students of First Middle School could ignore.

”Well, it’s not like you absolutely have to get first place,” Principal He said, having considered the matter already. His eyes flashed, a sign that he was communicating with another party on the net. ”Top ten. That’s all we need you to achieve during this tournament, on top of displaying your mind-ocean sword intent. It shouldn’t be hard for you. Your mind-ocean sword intent is of an impeccable standard and the result of dao comprehension by a bearer of celestial spirit roots. I believe it can’t hurt for you nor me for you to gain the notice of people from high places, whether they be from Luofu or the Skywatch Bureau.”

”Yes.” Nian Quan squinted, his eyes deep and unfathomable, revealing not even the slightest emotion. Skywatch Bureau...

The fastest way to take down his enemy, to destroy this organization, was not to engage it directly. Large organizations, no matter how corrupt, could be renewed and strengthened in a fight against a powerful enemy. The only way to take down such an organization was to do it from within, and this was the perfect inroad to join the Skywatch Bureau or Luofu.

Soon, the airship arrived at the special market. The abandoned and unfinished buildings of the nearby ghetto had been flattened and cleaned up. Even though this was a place where psychic sense couldn’t really be deployed, the Skywatch Bureau knew that it was better to take it into their own hands rather than leave it unattended as a lawless land where factions that tried to infiltrate Deepnight City could fester.

This way, they could also do some of their own dirty work away from their home turf, things that typically ran afoul of the law or their pathetic excuse for ethics. Humans could be experimented on with medication, irresponsible body modifications, or demonic or fiendish weapons. They could also hire contract killers there.

”Captain Nian is here!”

”Greetings, Principal!”

The youth chattered loudly as the airship landed.

Nian Quan, being the rising star of Third Middle School, had claimed first place in a few tournaments for the school already. Even the people who used to look down on him had to admit that nobody else in the academy could compete with him. Putting aside the fanboys and fangirls he had garnered, even the students from established clans feigned amicability and welcomed him with a smile despite privately harboring envy for him.

Nian Quan didn’t care if they continued to talk behind his back just as he wouldn’t pay barking stray dogs any heed. In fact, he didn’t even care about the cheers and praise he received. This was all beneath him; he had matured far too quickly to the point that he no longer cared about the pointless chatter of his peers.

Even his opponents could feel his aloof attitude during their duels. Every time Nian Quan defeated his opponent with one sword strike, he never bothered to offer even a single word, nor did he offer a hand to help them up. All he did was turn around and leave the arena or let the umpire raise his hand up as they declared his victory. While some criticized him for being too arrogant, others believed that this was exactly what sword cultivators should be: cold and sharp. This was what they would expect from someone who gained insight into sword intent at such a young age.

”Captain Nian, can you join me for a short spar later?”

”Sure.”

”Captain, do you have time to stroll through the new marketplace with me later?”

”I don’t have the time.”

Nian Quan listlessly answered them as he made his way to the duel arena at the fifth basement floor.

The tournament would be held in two formats: group and individual. Third Middle School’s performance in the group format was not particularly amazing, nor were they bad in any sense of the word. Sometimes, they lost matches strategically so as to keep their cards close to their hands so that the members would do better in the individual format some weeks later.

The members of Nian Quan’s party had gotten used to his quiet but direct way of speaking. Since he was their captain at the end of the day, they didn’t feel too bad about it unlike some other party leaders from large clans that would order them around like they were servants. In fact, their leader’s stoicness only made him more charismatic.

However, Nian Quan stopped before they reached their destination abruptly, much to the confusion of the rest of his retinue. He looked at a figure not far ahead and felt an incredible familiar presence, yet he couldn’t quite be sure.

An Jing also sensed something and turned to look in Nian Quan’s direction.