Destiny in Cinders

An Jing had other things to attend to apart from studying those tomes. With his mother accounted for and the True Fiend Cult dealt with, he could spend his time searching for Yvelbane’s fragment. As for returning to the Brightmirror Sect, he believed that this could wait. No doubt, the forces they had in Grand Chen would eventually reach out to him once he achieved something of note in Riverside.

He had made good progress in all three of his core objectives. As for the side tasks, he had to manage Riverside and collect the materials he needed to forge a dragonhoard bottle to store dragon qi. First, the warehouses had to be sifted through for whatever he needed, but that couldn’t happen until Bai Qinghan and Xu Tai’s subordinates arrived. If there wasn’t enough, An Jing would need to go to Skysource to buy some.

When he thought about Skysource, he was immediately reminded of the ”manpower” he had! Automata! If I get normal humans to take care of the rubble and transport food, I’ll have to worry about them slacking off or sneaking some of the supplies for themselves. But I have quite a few automata in my Hilltwixt warehouse. Skysource doesn’t have enough spirit qi for them to operate without charging up, but Riverside has a whole network of terrestrial veins I can use to power them! It’s about time I got them to work!

The elation he felt was akin to finding something like a divine armament in the nooks and crannies of his couch. He suddenly realized how proactively prepared he had been all along.

His first order of business was to check on his mother before heading to Skysource right after. As for the current state of Riverside, the city that once had a population of one million wasn’t something that a few martialists and automata could administer. Though, he wasn’t too concerned. No doubt, his achievements here would spread far and wide, and he hoped that those who supported his efforts would come flocking to him.

***

Brokeblade Mountain was a spirit-rich area that many people paid attention to. As a result, word spread faster than An Jing expected. No longer than ten hours after he killed the leader of the local fiend followers, the Brightmirror Sect learned about what happened from their merchant contacts in the area.

”So, you’re telling me that the grand disciple of mine managed to conquer a city that was secretly being controlled by the True Fiend Cult with his own capabilities?” Master Shrouded Dust said.

As the different factions within the sects had their own sources, the information they managed to collect differed from each other’s. All the Brightmirror Sect was aware of was that Bejeweled was a traders guild that was secretly run by the True Fiend Cult. They figured that was why the cult tried to force the people living in the settlements around the city into the city proper to use them as experimental subjects.

”That is so, Venerated,” said the leaders of the traders on the other end of the waterscreen, kneeling. ”Core Successor An has become the ruler of Riverside and also found his mother. It seems that he plans to stay there for a time. Since he has been recognized as a core successor already, should we start sending him the cultivation resources he deserves?”

”Very well, go ahead.” Master Shrouded Dust nodded before he thought about something else. ”Riverside was sealed up for a time due to the beast tide and snow calamity, so they must lack food. My grand disciple must also need some manpower. Assemble a group of capable ones and send them to help him. When my disciple eventually returns to the sect, he will no doubt bring a few people with him. I will accept one person from your families into Dawnlight Hall’s inner circle for each helper that my grand disciple brings back with him.”

The leaders were overjoyed and immediately prostrated themselves in gratitude. ”Your will be done, Venerated! You have our immense gratitude!”

***

King De, also known as Xuan Guangge, recalled the sight of the grand assembly at the divine capital’s Celestial Xuan Palace. Since he shared his stipulation that An Jing’s divine arc might be Ninedawn Armsmaster with the reigning emperor and his ministers, reports about An Jing decreased considerably in frequency. It could be the case that any topic regarding him was treated as a national secret, but as far as King De was concerned, somebody was intentionally trying to downplay the popularity of this divine-arc bearer.

Despite that, two arguments had resulted from discussing how this divine-arc bearer should be dealt with. From the very beginning, King De’s eldest nephew, the reigning True Martial Emperor, Xuan Mingyu, remained seated on his throne, silent and calm. There was nothing he could say or do in these heated court discussions. The leaders of the scholar-officials and martial-officials, Grand Preceptor Hong and Grand Marshal Yin, played the joint role of regent and advised the emperor’s every move. While Xuan Mingyu was at the Treasures Realm, he was still quite far off from being able to assimilate the imperial throne mandate completely. As such, he wouldn’t have much real power before he reached the Pure Yang Realm.

The court is mired in trouble as well... King De felt a headache welling up at the thought of that. Being a martial king, he shouldn’t be allowed physically into the divine capital in theory. But his status as a substitute martial king who didn’t have a proper celestial armament to his name allowed him free access to the divine capital and even Celestial Xuan Palace. Even then, he had no desire to just roam around for fun; he had seen everything the palace had to offer in his childhood.

He only really cared about the territory that was nominally his. With the disappearance of Southdipper Liferuler, most of the divine armaments across the three circuits of Hanhai have been collected at their nearest prefectural capitals to maintain the central flow of terrestrial veins. As for the other regions, while mandate bearers are stationed there in name, they’ve basically been left to fend for themselves.

During a time like this, that divine-arc bearer actually took a city under his own rule. Yet, none of those officials mind it the slightest. I really have no idea what they’re trying to cover up. Are they carrying out some kind of secret operation in Hanhai? They won’t even let a martial king like me leave. I have no choice but to stay in the capital for now.

Indeed, King De wasn’t staying in the divine capital out of his own free will. Instead, he was forcefully detained there after he came back to report his theories to the emperor. With the divine armaments in the three circuits of Hanhai all called back and the martial king that was supposed to guard the region gone, the whole area was left abandoned.

There was nothing King De could do about it. His eldest nephew, the emperor, wasn’t running the show, and his two advisors that lead the scholar-officials and martial-officials didn’t make their stances clear, allowing the court to wallow in chaos. Meanwhile, all a broke, powerless martial king like him with no real power could do was take listless walks around the palace.

This can’t go on... He furrowed his brow during his stroll. I still need dragon qi to cultivate. If Hanhai really collapses, when will I be able to reach the Pure Yang Realm?

He made up his mind to stick his hands into the matter; he had no choice. The high officials must have other plans in my territory. That’s why they’re forcing me to stay in the divine capital and suppressing news of An Jing so as not to draw the attention of others. That young armsmaster must be a huge unexpected variable in their plans. Let’s see whether this divine-arc bearer will throw their plans completely out of whack!

He also recalled that he had an edge that others didn’t: an acquaintance of An Jing and a divine armament that was familiar with him. He called out telepathically to the nether. ”Zheng Mo, Keensight Bell.”

”I’m here!”

Ding dong!

King De sensed the presence of his only trustworthy subordinate and the only divine armament he could use. ”Go to Brokeblade Mountain where Riverside stands. An Jing is there. Zheng Mo, I need you to reach out to him and see where he stands. As for you, Keensight Bell, keep an eye out for anyone that smells like an official. If you spot any, memorize the signature and report it to me.”

”Yes, sir!”

Ding dong! Ding dong!

King De was far from the only person to start moving his pieces. The Heavenly Demon Cult, True Fiend Cult as well as the other four sects in Dustdawn and many other factions all turned their sights to Riverside.