Destiny in Cinders

”Ruhui, what’s going on?” Jin Yanhua, who had been coaching You Ruhui, wondered what happened when her hardworking student suddenly ceased moving. But soon, she detected the spiking presence of her student. ”A breakthrough?! How did you suddenly reach the Fortification Realm?!”

You Ruhui wasn’t able to say a single word. Her entire body, from her meridians to her limbs, ”screamed” in sublime joy as if they were fish who had returned to water or a weak little caged beast that was allowed to return to the wild. A familiar sense of rejuvenation filled every part of her body.

The foundation of her power had far exceeded the threshold for the Fortification Realm long ago. Members of Grand Chen that hold imperial blood were born with powerful wonders. Once they reached the peak of the Tide Aura Stage, they would be as powerful as normal Fortification martialists. According to True Martial Arena’s classification system, they would be rated along nine-three to nine-five (ninefold Fortification martialists with three to five wonders).

Typically, the strongest bearers of imperial blood were born with five wonders, namely, Ebony Sun Eyes that allowed one to see through everything, Grand Immortal Voice that offered absolute control over their voice, Skyslay Marrow that built a firm foundation for their bodies, True Martial Spine that created an incredibly sturdy pillar that connected the body to the head, and Psychic Singularity which cradled the soul.

That was only the ideal situation, however. Most of the members of the Xuan clan with one natural-born wonder could officially enter the sect and use its name. Those with two would be selected by the imperial court to become bearers of imperial blood, obtaining lots of authority in the empire and nourishment from dragon qi. If they showed promise, they could even compete for the position of sentinel martial kings one day.

Those born with three wonders were automatically considered candidates for the position of sentinel martial kings, slated to fight for those positions. As for those born with four to five wonders, they rarely ever appeared even in the imperial court. Perhaps one would come about every few millennia. Once a true genius of imperial blood like that manifested, they would definitely become the True Martial Emperor.

You Ruhui was born with two wonders, namely, Ebony Sun Eyes and Grand Immortal Voice. There was a chance she could’ve inherited her father’s position as King Jing. However, the more talented a bearer of imperial blood was, the more nourishment they needed from dragon qi to grow their wonders. If they ever left the imperial court, they wouldn’t be able to make breakthroughs no matter how much imperial blood talent they received by birth, never ever reaching sagehood.

You Ruhui was no exception to that rule. Had King Jing not suddenly gotten targeted, she would’ve come to one of the prefectures of the northern frontier to build her cultivation foundations and get trained in the art of governing. She would also be able to use the major terrestrial-vein formations to extract dragon qi for her cultivation.

Betraying Grand Chen meant losing access to that path, yet she obtained the dragonjade as a result. According to King Jing, the dragonjade could provide dragon qi, which was true to an extent. It generated dragon qi at a gradual pace, but only if You Ruhui was able to divert the lives of many people, leading them to claim and expand her own territory. Having a dragonjade meant that she wouldn’t need divine armaments or major terrestrial-vein formations to gain dragon qi for cultivation.

You Ruhui’s plan was exactly that. She had planned to conquer the many islands across the Celestial Ocean with Jin Yanhua and develop one of them as her own fief to generate dragon qi and break through to the Fortification Realm. As she had only been an Aura Realm martialist, she couldn’t exactly claim an island that was too large, but she was ready to put in the time and effort to make it work. Yet, she suddenly discovered that she had just been provided with an amount of dragon qi that could only have been generated by a large city!

”How in the world?! How did An Jing get dragon qi? Unclaimed at that?” This should’ve been impossible! All the dragon qi generated within Grand Chen’s borders, even those that stretched across some of the islands of the Celestial Ocean, belonged to the imperial court including the terrestrial veins. Dragon qi was the utmost distillation of three combined streams of fundamental qi. There was no way it could appear unclaimed!

Many theories appeared in her mind as to what could have happened, each one less believable than the former. But she quickly calmed down, closed her eyes and began to meditate, regulating her body to prepare for a breakthrough.

Ebony Sun Eyes allowed her to read the flow of terrestrial veins, while Grand Immortal Voice allowed her to command nature sprites with words to speed up her spellcasting and ritual ceremonies. However, she had switched to the martial path proper as of late and needed a wonder that could reinforce her body for that purpose. The one she ended up choosing was True Martial Spine!

The spine, also known as the dragon of the human body, served as the central pivot, the core connected to the four extremities and the hundred bones. It was the source of countless meridian pathways, linking up to the purple mansion above and the qi ocean in the dantian. It connected the entire skeletal structure down to the very fingertips. It was crucial to nurturing the soul, strengthening the innards, anchoring the bones and tendons and linking the meridian pathways. All manner of high-tier martial techniques had to include a wonder that refined the spinal dragon. Subpar alternatives included wonders that honed the skeleton or bone marrow. They weren’t ideal, but they were necessary all the same.

You Ruhui had initially wanted to focus the foundations she built up in the Aura Realm on her spine, spreading it to her marrow and meridian pathways. She had accrued quite a lot of progress, but simply couldn’t follow through to the end without access to dragon qi. Yet, the dragon-qi infusion from An Jing filled her with profound power, causing her to glow gold and illuminate the training platform.

The bountiful spirit qi in Ancestral Dragon Hall flooded toward the platform and got absorbed by You Ruhui before being turned into nutrients for the spinal dragon. Her eyes glowed black and gold; the same light seeped out from the rest of her body as well, making her look like a dragon of the nether!

”Oh?” The Dragon God of the Present, Jin Shiqin, turned over with a look of interest. ”Another surprise, I see. That girl managed to get dragon qi... How odd. What in the world happened this time? What is Grand Chen doing? How did they let the divine-arc bearer get his hands on dragon qi?”

Resting his elbows on his knees and putting his palms on his tail, he watched as You Ruhui made her breakthrough. ”True Martial Spine... Come to think of it, this is one of the Ancestral Dragon Hall’s legacies.”

The elder brother of the fourth-generation Dragon God of the Fall left Ancestral Dragon Hall out of dissatisfaction that his younger brother had inherited the title. He fought his brother in a fit of rage and went his own way to the Northblack Sacrifice Continent to form his own faction at North Ocean, Abyssdragon Ocean.

During the grand tribulation of the previous era, the Hallowed Grand Court of the Northblack Sacrifice Continent fell as a result of the chaos caused by fiendgods. The founding ancestor of the North Chen Empire, Xuan Tianji, became the disciple of the Dragon Master at Floatdawn and was bequeathed with a grand legacy, which he used to pave the way for imperial blood and the imperial court. True Martial Spine was one of the ancient core teachings of Ancestral Dragon Hall. Specifically, it was the True Dragon Spine, but adapted for human physiology, and also one of the strongest spine refinement techniques in Void Embrace.

Xuan Tianji was incredibly blessed with talent, and though he didn’t have the bloodline of True Dragons, he used dragon qi as a substitute to supplement his cultivation, converting the legacy of True Dragons into a True Martial legacy and rising to powerful new heights soon after. Among the many descendants of Xuan Tianji, one nondescript young girl somehow made her way to Ancestral Dragon Hall, obtained dragon qi, and managed to manifest True Martial Spine as her wonder.

”Interesting indeed.” Jin Shiqin looked up and rapped his fingers at the void. ”Heed my orders. Gather all the tomes relating to True Dragon Spine and hand them to my daughter.”

Though there was no response, the entire Ancestral Dragon Hall itself began to revolve. As the void shifted, Jin Yanhua sensed something and raised her hand, receiving a few tomes of bound jade.