Destiny in Cinders

"I understand." An Jing stood calmly before Instructor Li, waiting for him to catch his breath.

This was the man who had offered An Jing an exceptionally high price for selling himself. Likewise, had it not been for Instructor Li's influence and personal recommendation, the manor lord would never have singled An Jing out for special attention when he first arrived at Direlife Manor.

While An Jing's talents were bound to get him noticed eventually, Instructor Li held the highest expectations for him from day one. He was the same man who had joined the chase alongside the white-robed scribe. It was clear that Instructor Li and An Jing shared a profound connection. Yet deep down, An Jing couldn't shake a growing suspicion.

"I will take your life before the heavenly fiend consumes you entirely," said An Jing, "Now tell me, what is the state of that vilespawn fiend?"

"It's in peak form. It can easily slaughter dozens of low-level martialists like you with a single strike." Instructor Li spat a mouthful of black blood, his face blooming with an unnatural crimson. It was the fleeting brilliance of a man at his end.

Determined to spook An Jing, he exaggerated its abilities. "Not counting the Crimsonguard's casualties, the divine cult has lost three of its five airships. We've seen nearly ten Fortification and peak Tide Aura martialists like me fall, and even a Clearing Realm adept was slain! Take my final word of advice. Get out of here while you still can!"

"An adept actually intervened?" An Jing seemed completely oblivious to Instructor Li's intimidation, appearing lost in thought. "I never imagined the demonic cult would mobilize such a force for me in just a few days. Do they value me that much?"

"An Jing, don't you understand?" Watching An Jing remain so unshaken, even with his life slipping away, Instructor Li couldn't keep from raising his voice. "The divine cult needs you alive. If you fall to the heavenly fiend's corruption, the deaths of the children of Direlife Manor and everyone else will have been for nothing! Weren't you planning to escape? Now that the opportunity is here, why are you hesitating?"

Instructor Li let out a laugh of pure frustration, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he began to mock him. "Are you perhaps bound to this heavenly fiend by karma, destined to face it in battle?"

An Jing looked down, his eyes meeting the other's head-on. "Nothing is destined. I ran before because I wanted to. I'm fighting now because I choose to. Whether I run or stand my ground, I'm simply following my own nature. Escaping that ordeal and choosing to fight now are both just expressions of who I am.

"My survival doesn't dictate the value of those lost at Direlife Manor. They were independent souls, not mere extensions of me. You see people only as vessels of lifearcs, but you've missed the point entirely. Lifearcs only exist because we do. It's the people that matter."

Instructor Li chuckled, but An Jing simply brushed it off. "Tell me the truth if you really want me to live. If I can't defeat it, then I'll walk away.

"Besides," An Jing said, leaning down to check Instructor Li's pulse. "Grand Chen's sacred mission is to safeguard its subjects. Yet even you would fight to the very death to stop the heavenly fiends, for the sake of your 'believers' and 'land.'

"We're not the same. I'm human. Killing you is one thing, slaying the heavenly fiends is another. I just want to know one thing, Instructor Li. You're clearly a mole for Grand Chen, so why display such fierce loyalty to the demonic cult in this regard?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"A mole? It seems you've misunderstood..." Upon hearing this, Instructor Li froze. Then, a laugh broke from his lips, spiraling into a fit of breathless laughter that caused him to choke and cough up blood.

"It's true, I passed word to Grand Chen so they could get here swiftly. But that has nothing to do with being a mole. You don't seriously believe that Grand Chen and the divine cult are mortal enemies, do you? You can't possibly think we don't have our own people in the imperial court.

"There are agents of ours among this unit of the Crimsonguard. That's why the collaboration went so smoothly. It's a shame Grand Chen has its own rats inside the divine cult as well. That's the only reason they managed to take advantage of us. But no matter... Bai Qinghan has returned to headquarters, while you're wandering the wilderness. Grand Chen has failed to secure you, and their scheme has come to nothing."

Blood dribbled from the corner of his lips as Instructor Li stared at An Jing, his eyes dripping with mockery. "An Jing, don't think you can sever your ties with the divine cult! I've been feeding your information to our spies in Grand Chen every step of the way. So what if you despise us?

"Even if you run from the divine cult and defect to Grand Chen, you'll still be working for us. The only difference? Cough, cough... Ha! They'll call you a prodigy instead of 'General.' Everything else stays exactly the same!"

"Who said anything about me joining Grand Chen?" In stark contrast to Instructor Li's frantic state, An Jing remained completely calm. "I knew you had moles inside Grand Chen. I just didn't expect it to be someone else entirely.

"It's true, this empire is rotten to the core. Whatever glory it once possessed has become a plague upon the people. I will rip this corrupt system out by its roots, whether it's you, Grand Chen, or those content to sink into filth with you, every last one of you who butcher the weak and treat human lives like cattle."

As he spoke, a river of crimson flames flared behind his head, transforming into a blood star of lethality. "Instructor Li, understand this; only through total destruction can humanity be reborn. I believe this is the true will of heaven."

Faced with An Jing's unyielding resolve, Instructor Li was utterly stunned. "Is this your purpose? Is this what you truly believe to be heavenly will?"

As his life ebbed away, he gazed at the expanding crimson flame totem and the ever-intensifying, razor-sharp aura, finally reaching a moment of realization. "You were born to be one of the divine cult, after all. But are you really so sure you can succeed?"

"I don't have to be the one who succeeds. At the very least, I'll pave the way and serve as a trailblazer."

Hearing An Jing's answer, Instructor Li gradually calmed down. "Are you truly not afraid of dying? An Jing... wasn't it fear of death that made you run?"

An Jing gave no response.

At last, he caught a fleeting glimpse into the depths of the boy's mind. He couldn't fully grasp it, but a glimmer of understanding settled over him anyway. Bowing his head, his voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, "So this is the divine son the cult has been trying to sift out all along... So that's how it is... I was wrong all along..."

In a half-conscious fog, Instructor Li began to quietly chant the ode of the Heavenly Will Divine Cult.

"Great Heaven forged this mortal clay,

Yet the foolish rush to forsake the grace.

Where leads the doom of fate's decay?

Mine is the path that lights this place.

Divine is that which guides my way,

Celestial are those who tread the path divine,

Sacred are those who know Heaven's will.

"So this is what 'divine' means..."