Destiny in Cinders

"It's over!"

"Save us!"

"We're dead for sure..."

The whole black market fell into complete chaos, not from the collapsing ceiling but rather the figures that descended along with the debris. They didn't use any techniques to decelerate their fall and smashed through the layers of rock and shields of the black market, creating many clouds of dust and tremors. Then, their crimson eyes flashed within the clouds as they gradually emerged from it.

"It's the Fengdu Guard from the Skywatch Bureau!" the boss of Fortune Road yelled. "We're done for. They're sure to kill everyone on sight!"

"What kind of armaments are those?" An Jing could feel immense and chilling lethal qi coming from the group. They all wielded heavy spirit-beam cannons and had various blades and hammers hanging from their waists. All of them were clad in incredibly sturdy black alloy armor, reinforced by formations that looked like dragon scales. Nothing would be able to make it through their defense. Crimson spirit patterns that the eye could see flowed around the scales of their armor, pulsing like the heart of a beast and emitting terrifying power.

They wore helmets with motifs of creatures from the underworld, each one distinct. But one thing was constant among all of them: their savage killing intent that pulsed brightly through their sinister eyes.

So, this is the suppression force of one of Skysource's authorities, the Skywatch Bureau's Fengdu Guard!

"A whole set of spirit artifacts? All of them are high tier too! They're incredibly difficult to forge!" Yvelbane's caution spiked. "From head to toe, from their inner garments to the outer scales, from the spirit-qi crucibles to their goggles, everything's made up of spirit artifacts! There are more than twenty pieces in total!

"With all that, peak Qi Refinement cultivators would be elevated to levels akin to intermediate Foundation Building cultivators! Watch out, An Jing! These people came to kill. Hide yourself!"

He didn't need the sword soul's reminder to know that these guards were hundreds of times more bloodthirsty than the pursuers from the demonic cult. He channeled his spirit energy and ignored everything else, charging towards the exit.

He wasn't that powerful, but he had reacted much faster than everyone else who was still stunned by the power of the Fengdu Guard. Only when they saw someone much weaker than them make the first move to run did they scatter in panicked fashion, completely ignoring any semblance of order as they swarmed towards the exit.

The owner of the shop was also quick to move. When he saw An Jing's charge push apart people in front of him, he immediately tagged along. He didn't hesitate and took out a gale talisman and used it on An Jing, giving him even more momentum and making it easier for the owner to follow behind. The two of them managed to reach the emergency exit thanks to their teamwork.

The manager on the second floor of the black market was a Qi Refinement cultivator with his own green-gold armor, complete with layers of ice-blue shields, though it seemed somewhat smaller than the Fengdu Guard's. Still, it posed no problem when he transformed into a twenty-meter-tall giant to resist the invaders. "No lives have been lost yet. If you leave right away, there need not be any hurt feelings between us!"

"The target has not yet been identified on this floor. They might have used some technique to blend in," the leader of the Fengdu Guard unit said through their communication channels, completely ignoring the black market's staff. He scanned the panicking crowd and said, "How do we deal with the non-targets?"

An old voice replied through the communicator, "Put them down so that they don't get in the way of the search."

"What amount of force are we permitted to use?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Death and injury are of no concern."

"Understood." Black miasma immediately poured out of the guards' armor, turning the surroundings into a hellscape.

"Get into formation!" cried the cultivators of the black market. They gathered spirit qi to push back, intent on going all out against the Fengdu Guard.

Before An Jing could catch his breath, his expression changed. Yvelbane also gave a stern warning. "Get down and use all your energy to channel the seal!"

An Jing didn't hesitate and shifted his backpack to his front before getting down on the ground, channeling the Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal with everything he had. In an instant, spirit qi immediately enveloped his head, body, limbs and mantle, covering his entire being with glowing patterns of gold and white.

The next instant, a massive spirit beam exploded behind him. Many visible ripples came rumbling from all directions. The squelching sounds of flesh and blood filled An Jing's ears. He had crawled towards the emergency exit and hid within it, so he wasn't that badly hurt, but the shockwave did make him slightly concussed. Thank goodness I made progress with Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal. Otherwise, I'd definitely have been knocked out.

His mind filled up with irrelevant thoughts uncontrollably. He knew that he just had a close brush with unconsciousness and bit down hard on his tongue, forcing himself awake to the taste of iron in his mouth. He then channeled spirit energy again to strengthen his body.

The owner and other customers who hadn't managed to go through the emergency exit didn't fare too badly. They were stronger and had some decent gear on them, so they only got some broken bones at most from the shockwaves and were still able to find a place to hide. Had they been weaker, however...

An Jing could feel a rolling body bump into him, probably having been sent flying earlier. She was probably just a normal person who hadn't broken through to the Qi Refinement Realm. Her defense was far from comparison to An Jing's when he circulated his divine seal; she had been crushed completely and spread on the ground like chunky peanut butter on toast.

An Jing was still plastered to the ground and couldn't see anything. He could only imagine that the others there suffered the same fate. Blood and flesh trickled down all over the place. He closed his mouth and bit down on his teeth as the blood submerged him.

Only then did the black market's forces and the Fengdu Guard start to fight. But by then, hell had already descended upon all of them.