Destiny in Cinders

Rain lashed the earth as An Jing slowly dragged himself out from the muck, lest he defeat the heavenly fiend only to succumb to a simple storm. Victory was his, as it should be, after the countless preparations he had made to neutralize the enemy.

It was true that the cultists and Crimsonguard troops had borne the brunt of its ultimate attack and crippled the fiend, forcing it into deep slumber, but this was still an undeniable triumph for mankind. However, the battle wasn't over yet.

Not far off, in the center of a mass of black, bloody flesh, a shattered core flickered unsteadily, pierced through by dark-blue lightning. It resembled a heart and exuded the polished luster of black jade. Similar to the inkjade skull from Skysource, this was the fiendcore necessary to sustain the heavenly fiend's presence in this world.

The fiendcore was on the verge of shattering completely. A massive wound steadily ate away at its essence as the jade heart dissolved into rising vapor. Yet the black liquid from the mournful spirits of those slaughtered in the vicinity continuously repaired the damage, sustaining a fragile balance in a cycle of destruction and regeneration. A final blow would put an end to it once and for all.

An Jing drew himself up, gathering blood lethal qi around the spear in his hand as he sprinted straight for the fiendcore.

"No! Don't!"

"Spare us, sir!"

"Spare our souls! Please don't wipe us from existence!"

Voices echoed from the black liquid. These were the wretched spirits corrupted by the vilespawn fiend, now begging for mercy and crying out that without the fiendcore, they would have nowhere left to anchor their souls and would completely disintegrate.

"Even before the heavenly fiend claimed their lives, their souls had already shattered, so they will never be able to enter the netherworld." Knowing rookie fiend hunters would hesitate at a moment like this, Yvelbane spoke up immediately. "Ignore those cries. They're nothing but illusions crafted by the heavenly fiend to deceive you. None of it is real.

"Countless gods and immortals once tried to salvage these wretched spirits. Yet, they are no longer the people they used to be, just hollow phantoms and broken remnants. Their true souls are long gone. The soft-hearted cultivators who hesitated to strike have all met a gruesome end. Misplaced pity will only hurt you in the end."

"Is that how it is?" An Jing suddenly grinned as a bloody light flickered in his eyes. "How generous of the heavenly fiend to kill them off so early, then." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

If it were me, I wouldn't give them such an easy pass to kill guilt free and feel righteous about it.

After all, the heavenly fiends weren't human. Though they might crave human despair and hatred, they remained ignorant of the true depth of human evil... or human resolve.

"Don't worry, Yvelbane. I won't hesitate. Even if those souls are still intact and not just fading echoes, I'll cut them down to grant them total liberation."

Arriving before the fiendcore, An Jing drove his nine-chi blood-lethal-qi blade straight through the crumbling mess. His ability acted as a bane to the heavenly fiend. The instant the blood lethal qi pierced the core, it was utterly obliterated, dismantled down to its essence and purified into raw vital qi.

This vital qi was none other than the fractured echo An Jing had obtained after slaying the vine creature in Skysource. It was also known as mystical qi. Born from primordial chaos, mystical qi was the Grand Dao's reward to those who eradicated the world's greatest enemy, the heavenly fiends. In essence, it acted like an immune response against external invaders.

However, the faint trace of mystical qi from the vine creature paled in comparison to the fractured echo left by this heavenly fiend. The misty, colorless vital qi erupted like boiling flames, whipping violently through the air like a banner in the wind.

"Draw it all in at once!" Yvelbane urged, eager to impart a secret technique to collect mystical qi.

But in the next instant, the True Talisman hidden close to An Jing's body came alive with a violent tremor. It tore right through his clothes and floated in midair, erupting with brilliant rays of light.

In response, the mystical qi surged, forming a vortex around the talisman as it was purified and refined, layer by layer. Moments later, the hazy mystical qi was transformed into crystal-clear heaven purification radiance.

To An Jing and Yvelbane's astonishment, this heaven purification radiance plunged into the spear that had just impaled the fiendcore. An Jing could sense his abilities and even his lifearc trembling, gripped by a profound, primal thirst.

Mystical qi obtained from slaying a heavenly fiend can aid and advance cultivation as well as enhance abilities. But to think the True Talisman can purify it further into heaven purification radiance... And this heaven purification radiance can directly upgrade my capabilities too!

So is this how the Heavenly Dao incentivizes this world's inhabitants to hunt down the heavenly fiends... With the True Talisman possessing such miraculous power, it's no wonder the major corporations of Skysource are fighting to seize it.

An Jing's Qiform Arsenal was a formidable and versatile ability that held immense promise. Yet, this sort of ability was notoriously easy to learn but exceptionally difficult to master.

While he was undeniably a genius, having successfully manifested a weapon with ailment qi as soon as he unlocked the ability, he was still a long way from perfecting the art of condensing qi into weapons, or even crossing the threshold basic mastery.

Still, An Jing felt no urgency as he had already grasped the essence of this ability. There were no walls left to break; he simply needed to put in the time and allow slow and steady growth to grind down the road to eventual perfection.

In its purest form, qi, or innate qi, manifested as profound qi; when muddied, it manifested as lethal qi. Weapons represented the act of killing. They were tools designed to inflict harm, embodying the dao of destruction.

The real power of condensing qi into a weapon went beyond shaping a sword from blood lethal qi. It involved using the mind to construct an instrument and technique that unleashed the user's ultimate killing intent.

It could slaughter anything—from his own afflictions to the lives of others. This was the origin of Ailment Swordfinger.

With the influx of heaven purification radiance, An Jing felt his ability react like a spark meeting a rush of fuel, erupting into a roaring inferno. His progress, which required years of slow grinding, was instantly maximized.

In a flash, the spear in his hand levitated in the air as the crimson Pyrestar totem materialized behind his head. Fueled by the mystical qi, his blood lethal qi completely dissolved the spear, which then slammed into the totem, leaving the distinct imprint of an illusory spear.

"Step one: shape lethal qi and condense it into a weapon." Witnessing this, Yvelbane said with approval, "Then comes step two: manifest and dispel the weapon at will. Embody your arsenal!

"This heavenly fiend's true form is formidable, and the True Talisman is even more miraculous! To think it could actually elevate your ability and bring you within arm's reach of basic mastery!"