Destiny in Cinders

"Forget it!" The Fengdu soldier had only heard that the martial cultivator wanted to create a chance for An Jing to escape, but he couldn't be sure whether he had handed the ancient treasure to him, so he got hasty. He quickly raised his spirit-beam gun and turned around, aiming at the fleeing An Jing. But when he pulled the trigger, nothing but white smoke came out of the gun. Is it broken?! Curses! The timing!

It wasn't just a coincidence, however. Right that moment, the equipment of every operator from the Fengdu Guard near the black market malfunctioned! An Jing noticed it and went even faster.

"Think you can escape?!" The soldier tried to give chanse, only to notice that the right leg in his spirit armor was completely stuck and roared in rage. With the greatest strength he could muster, he turned around to defend himself.

The punches of the martial cultivator and the soldier collided, but only the former was sent backwards from the blow. Though they were more or less on even ground in terms of power, the soldier's Greenwood Flourish Wither Mantra promoted growth and vitality heavily. The martial cultivator, on the other hand, practiced an external technique from the Ninelands Tome that focused on magma and earth manipulation, so the purity of his spirit qi was inferior.

Not to mention, the soldier was clad in spirit armor. Had the ghost cultivator earlier not corroded it to some extent, the soldier would be able to take out the martial cultivator in a strike or two at his full power. It was too bad that spirit armor wasn't the most effective in single combat, but in a proper formation with other soldiers where their spirit qi was linked, their spirit shields wouldn't falter in the slightest!

The soldier followed up his punch with a second one on his shoulder, a third one that shattered his defensive stance and the fourth one that struck his head, sending the martial cultivator flying off into the realm of unconsciousness. The soldier then lifted him by the neck and smashed him into the ground, burying half his body and sending his footwear flying.

"Phew." The soldier breathed heavily, feeling a bout of dizziness. He had suffered internal injuries. The ghost cultivator's chthonic bone qi had also infested his meridians, interrupting the circulation of his own spirit qi and slowing his injury and stamina recovery that relied on his own longevity lifecycle qi. While the martial cultivator's magma scorch qi wasn't that potent, it did conflict violently with the chthonic bone qi after each punch, resulting in intense pain for the soldier.

The True Talisman is still in the badland brat's hands... If I reclaim it, I can get promoted and transferred away from the shithole Skywatch Bureau of Deepnight City and return to headquarters! Come to think of it, that kid seemed to be in his early teens. Fucking hell, how did a kid like that manage to cultivate such pure Evenstar metal qi? Isn't that on the level of students from the four great dao academies? We can't let the badlands produce a genius of this caliber!

Then, the soldier heard the sound of buzzing insects. He used all the energy he had left to turn towards the sound, but saw no insects, only a drone—a self-destruct drone!

From the distance, An Jing smiled with the drone goggles on his face, piloting the suicide drone as quickly as he could toward the shoulder injury of the soldier. Leaving? Are you kidding? Running means losing! This is the perfect chance to kill that Fengdu soldier! An Jing would give it his all. It was also a great chance to test out this type of drone against someone with such a huge build.

"Get blown to bits!" He pushed the button. Then, there was a rapid expansion of flame and light. A thunderous rumble rocked the tiny pathway! Crimson Burning Land's self-destruct drones were designed for use against feral beasts of the badlands or even feys, packing quite a bit of firepower. Normally, they wouldn't function in an urban area with a suppression signal, but the black market itself blocked outside signals. It also had a massive suppression formation of its own. However, it had been damaged during the fight with the Fengdu Guard, which made the whole area no different from the badlands even within city borders!

The bright flash of crimson flame was peppered with many golden arcs of electricity, rendering a sight of beauty and majesty. Blaze and blitz swallowed everything, even the cries of pain coming from within. Chunks of bloody flesh ended up completely charred and left trails of black smoke wafting into the air. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The heatwave that resulted almost sent An Jing flying, but he used a stream of Evenstar lethal qi to protect himself. He braved the hot winds and looked in the direction of the soldier and saw a metallic figure in the flames! The soldier's gloom qi gathered near the hole in his shoulder, acting as a shield against the drone. His longevity lifecycle qi's black tendrils continued to flail around wildly, pushing away the heat that threatened to bake him alive.

"You sinister crook!" Due to using everything he had to shield his injury, the soldier's demonic helmet had its outer layer melted off. He spotted An Jing and charged toward him. "Die!"

The heat had melted away the gunk that clogged up the joints of his right knee, making it possible for him to pursue. Despite his heavy injuries, the soldier was far more fearsome than an average feral beast! "You animal!"

A wild expression surfaced on An Jing's face. He conjured up what remained of his Evenstar lethal qi and punched the wall hard. "Go to hell!"

With a great boom, the support pillar in the wall that was already damaged from the combat crumbled. Nothing was left to hold the ceiling's weight as it crashed down on the soldier's body! An Jing hadn't just put the martial cultivator down at a random spot. He had planned for that to be where the martial cultivator made his last stand against the soldier!

The soldier couldn't avoid the huge mass that fell toward him and growled, using the last of his energy to leap ahead. That, however, was to his detriment. The distance he jumped was only enough to push his upper torso out far enough to not be crushed by the falling ceiling. He would've survived, albeit be heavily injured, had he been completely covered by the fallen debris. Yet, his exposed upper torso also meant that his exposed and injured shoulder was accessible!

An Jing armed himself with his sword case and Iceburst rifle, one in each arm. Using a normal firearm against a cultivator was an absolute joke. Even his Spirit Awakening qi would be able to reinforce his flesh till it was as hard as steel, let alone an advanced Qi Refinement cultivator's qi. Nothing but artifacts would suffice!

Consecutive shots fired nonstop towards the bloody cavity in the shoulder that wriggled with sprouting tendrils. An Jing made sure to angle the shots so that they also charted a course toward the heart and lungs before emptying his sword case, using up the recharged spirit-qi crucible. The Iceburst rifle didn't need spirit qi but used special bullets instead, so it didn't need to worry about a power source.

An Jing's hands were stable, allowing him to fire with great accuracy. He felt like he had muscle memory for shooting, which once more prompted him to wonder what in the world he had been in his past life. How did he know both martial techniques and marksmanship? What in the world did his martial school teach? All types of fighting? Was he somehow forklift certified too?

The thoughts receded as quickly as they surfaced until everything was quiet. Like a machine, he continued to fire emotionlessly. His eyes reflected the burning flames all around him. The meditative motions of reloading and firing at the enemy before him brought him peace.

Eventually, the sprouting tendrils shattered. Chunks of flesh were sent flying. The charred smell of flesh blended with the grassy fragrance of qi, resulting in an odd odor. Even as more black roots extended from the soldier's body, they were crushed by more and more bullets.

The Fengdu soldier's body was definitely not normal. He must be using his lifeforce as leverage for more qi to use, not that An Jing cared. He continued to fire until the sprouts stopped moving and black roots fell away and didn't even stop as the flesh got pounded so hard that not much blood was left within. He only stopped when Yvelbane said, "He's dead."

In a tone filled with praise, it said, "You won, An Jing. He's dead."