Destiny in Cinders

"The security's actually so strict... It's far tighter than I imagined." An Jing did notice some signs before. From what he saw, a secretive training facility in the mountains wouldn't merit this level of fortifications. It was clearly made to prevent the assault of a proper army.

Direlife Manor's layout was that of a central hub flanked by two plots of land on both sides. The center of the hub was where the apothecary was located, while the places used to house and train the children amounted to less than a fourth of the area. The flanking plots of land were actually mountain ridges that surrounded the manor where many precious herbs were grown. An Jing had seen them during some of the training sessions.

Behind Direlife Manor was a waterfall canyon, which served as one of the water sources of the manor. Farther back was a large canyon which Instructor Li and the rest had called Direlife Canyon, which the manor was named after. It was said to be incredibly deep, but An Jing hadn't seen it with his own eyes before. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

An Jing continued to move silently through the darkness. Even though the instructors were all of the Aura Realm, their martial skill wasn't that highly refined. From the many interactions he had had with them, he had figured out that the instructors were all people who had failed the manor's trials.

The standard by which failure was judged was likely the inability to awaken a lifearc. Even if they didn't manage to do that, they would still be able to reach the Tide Aura Stage, making them considerably strong for county towns.

As some of the instructors might be patrolling the area, An Jing made sure to keep his guard up. He had never been the overconfident sort. Circulating the Abyssedge Stake Aura Refining technique that he had mostly mastered, he withdrew his presence deep into him, making it seem as if he didn't exist.

Apart from that, he tensed up the muscles around his body and used his even more internal strength to maintain a precise sense of balance, making sure not an ounce of energy was leaking from his body.

These techniques they were taught were incredibly suited for stealthy incursions so An Jing could hardly be blamed for thinking that this was some deathsworn-training facility. Coupled with Armorpierce Impetus, he could dish out a terrifying amount of power in an instant. It truly was a combination built for taking lives instantly.

These martial techniques were high tier enough that normal martial academies wouldn't be able to teach them. From what An Jing knew, these techniques were more than comparable to the elite techniques that some martial academies held as their pride and joy.

The fact that the children were taught techniques of this caliber showed that the powers that be had long-term plans for them. They had already spent so much resources on teaching and nurturing them, so it was rather unlikely that those who were eliminated would be killed just like that.

Not to mention, the instructors and other servants in the manor revealed subtle signs that they had been one of those eliminated children. Not awakening lifearcs led to being eliminated in the end, and the mysterious blend of herbs and beast flesh they had been fed were probably catalysts for lifearcs. They might have been served the dish to push them to reach a state where they were on the brink of awakening lifearcs.

Can lifearcs really be artificially induced to awaken like that? It doesn't feel right... An Jing didn't want to doubt Direlife Manor if he didn't have to. After all, it was still a fact that they had saved many people during a time of chaos. While he might not have necessarily needed them to save him, they were the only lifeline for many other children here.

He scanned the surroundings as quickly as he could from a higher vantage point, but nothing stood out to him. The buildings around him mostly stored medicinal ingredients or important tomes. Some of them were empty and seemed to have been used to house people at some point, but it appeared unused in the past seven or eight years.

The fact that they seemed unused also stood out. Were they truly empty? Did Direlife Manor use to have more disciples at one point? Wait, seven or eight years ago... How about ten... Wait, it was that period of time...

An Jing's irises constricted as he thought of the Hanhai Fiend Calamity. That's right! The calamity back then would have been like the one we just experienced. There would be many children of disaster as a result of the calamity, and the one from before was far more severe! Direlife Manor would've been able to purchase many more disaster children from that time!

Having figured it out, everything started to make sense to him. The only point of suspicion that was left was where all those people ended up. Were they really sent away from the mountains?

He still felt rather troubled. Had Zhang Ying not been someone who had tagged along by his side since the second day, he wouldn't have bothered to look for him. Even after going around the main hub of the manor, he still wasn't able to find a single trace of him, so he decided to head back. Forget it. I should go back and get some rest before training tomorrow.

Right as he was about to turn around and leave, he heard an odd sound, something like the sharp chirp of a bird that sounded almost like a painful shriek of a human. He only heard it for the slightest instant before everything was silent again.

"What?" He turned towards the direction of the sound and saw the apothecary. "What in the world is that sound..."

Slowly, he approached the apothecary, only to hear an odd voice. "Stop..."

It sounded clear, yet incredibly foreign. The voice sounded feminine and bright, much like birdsong or the sound of a flowing stream.

Then, he heard a much sharper and sterner voice that sounded like the metallic resonance of a blade. "Stop there!"

Who's that?! An Jing stopped approaching the apothecary and looked around him, seeing nothing. There was only light from the stars and moon, with the rest of the place being dark and silent. Nobody had been awoken by the voices. It almost seemed like they had been auditory hallucinations.

Even so, the voice continued to reverberate clearly in An Jing's head rather than fading away like an echo. The voice's warning calmed An Jing's emotions. A sense of peace spread throughout his body, much like a drop of cold rain that fell into a lake, spreading calming ripples across the surface, harmonizing with everything to achieve silent tranquility.

Is someone helping me? He took a few deep breaths and paid attention to the apothecary ahead, only to realize how careless he had been. Unlike other places, the apothecary was relatively brightly lit thanks to the many oil lamps and lanterns around. It was as bright as the twilight. He would surely be discovered if he got closer.

I can't get closer, but who was behind that voice? Why would they warn me to stop? What in the world are the adults of Direlife Manor plotting?

Exhaling deeply, he suppressed the anxiety he felt before turning to leave. It wasn't a good idea to keep searching. His experience told him that he had to be far better prepared to attempt something like that again.

Eventually, he returned to his dormitory and got into bed. Mind filled with questions, he eventually fell asleep, dreaming of hunger, wild beasts, sharpened fangs and talons, grating roars, bloody flesh, shattered bones and beating hearts.

They were waiting patiently, enduring. They whispered that it wasn't the time. An Jing mouthed "the time wasn't now" in his sleep. Finally, he dreamed of a cold, piercing glow. He dreamed of a sword.