Destiny in Cinders

Cang Linzu suddenly recalled his friends from Direlife Manor: Zhang Ying, Zhan Feng, Ye Xiuyuan, Zhao Yongan, Xie Pinglan and the others. Just like how the clouds gathered and scattered after falling rain and stormy winds, these fateful ties formed and scattered, leaving no visible trace.

I'm not someone who can be compared to Big Brother An, he thought. He couldn't recall the names of every single person. Even their faces were beginning to blur within his memory. The process of forgetting had begun within him, but was it really just forgetfulness?

Back when they first disappeared, he was satisfied with the vague notion that he would meet them again in the future. Yet, the thought that his friends had long perished and their corpses, their bones had been made into medicine...

Big Brother An seemed so troubled back then. I bet he was agonizing over whether roping us into betraying the manor was going too far, Cang Linzu calmly thought. Yet, do we have the right to complain about being roped in? Does he have to take responsibility for everything that happens to us, good or bad? Why do good people have to be at the receiving end of blame? No. Nobody in this world is innocent. Everyone can kill, they can also be killed, including me.

Once his mind settled on the facts, he was able to still his mind and enter meditation. However, the thing that appeared in his mind this time around wasn't a rusty sword. Instead, it was the shadow of a star, a massive shadow that veiled up the entire sky and blocked out all the stars above!

Cang Linzu, still outside the camp, was suddenly shrouded entirely by shadows. A faint star manifested, still shrouded by dark shadows formed from countless specks of black dust. The dust revolved around before forming a dark ring behind his head and settling down calmly, no longer moving or revolving.

"Huh?" The soldiers that were observing the disaster children from the side suddenly snapped their eyes open.

"A lifearc awakening? Now of all times?"

"The demonic cult failed to awaken his lifearc. Why did it happen now?"

"This disaster child is filled with potential!"

"Even though the demonic cult failed to awaken his lifearc, he managed it once he came to us. It's a blessing from the heavens!"

Without hesitation, they immediately assembled and surrounded the camp to ensure that nobody and nothing would be able to disrupt it.

Within Cang Linzu's inner world, he saw the figure peeking through pure darkness, illuminated by a brilliant silver sword. It was an incredibly familiar form. He was surrounded by a sword glow of Evenstar metal and had a halo of blood lethal qi behind his head. He seemed to be walking toward the distance. Then, something seemed to connect Cang Linzu to that figure.

"Big Brother An?"

"Yes?"

Amidst the snow-covered mountains was An Jing, calmly walking across the landscape of forest and rivers, braving the massive torrents of snow that resembled the impressive waves of Hanhai. He suddenly stopped when he sensed something. Looking around, he whispered, "Cang?"

There was no response apart from a faint sensation. "What is going on?"

He stopped in the blizzard. Snow piled up rapidly and covered his feet completely, not that he minded. "I heard Cang's voice! It wasn't a hallucination!"

"I also felt your celestial arc tremble earlier," Yvelbane said. Its senses were far sharper than his. "This is a resonance between lifearcs. Weird... Apart from divine arcs or a few special star-associated arcs, what other lifearc could possibly complement your celestial arc? An Jing, what did you feel earlier?"

"I feel..." He pondered it for a moment. "I feel something coming from Cang. The resonance happened with something I am yet to possess." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The sword soul pondered deeply before it said, "Your celestial arc of Seven Ruinous Luminaries has yet to fully awaken. Putting aside the sun and moon, you don't even have all the five planets. You've awakened two so far, Pyrestar and Evenstar. However, the Seven Luminaries isn't the only possible configuration. Some speak of Nine Luminaries or Eleven Luminaries." [1]

"Oh?" An Jing's interest was piqued. "Eleven Luminaries... It's on the tip of my tongue..."

"The Seven Regulars and Four Remnants. That's right, this is it. I can't think of many more ways how other things can be related to your celestial arc. Of the Four Remnants, there's Rahu, Ketu, Apogee and Perigee. Rahu and Ketu are the darkness of heavenly light, the remnants of fire and earth. Apogee and Perigee are fates of the astral mansions and remnants of wood and water. The Evenstar stands for metal and has been converted into lethal qi, so it no longer has remnants."

An Jing was rather stunned by the revelation. "In other words, there are four other celestial bodies apart from the Seven Ruinous Luminaries... No... Why are there so many?"

"Each celestial body represents part of your power, the more the better. The fact that the Seven Ruins Arc doesn't explicitly concern itself with the Four Remnants shows that the powers of the Four Remnants don't fall under your lifearc. Instead, they are celestial bodies that have manifested to orbit you!"

Just like a wyrm rising to dragonhood and ascending to the throne, An Jing also needed loyal comrades to support him. If he truly was akin to the sun, he would need many more stars to orbit around him. A true ruler would need people to carry out his will. Such was the relationship between the Seven Regulars and the Four Remnants.

"Here's my guess. That kid was rather talented to begin with, but he hadn't come across the right moment for his lifearc to awaken. Due to your own celestial arc, however, you've triggered the awakening of the star-associated arcs of Rahu, Ketu, Apogee and Perigee. Still, the awakening of your celestial arc is not yet complete, so you aren't able to link up with their lifearcs properly yet. That's why the connection happened only for an instant and didn't stabilize."

"It does sound plausible when you put it this way." He pondered upon the nature of the relations. Evenstar didn't have a remnant while Pyrestar's remnant was Rahu. It seemed that Cang Linzu's lifearc was likely related to either Ketu, Apogee or Perigee. "Not bad at all. Perhaps I'll be able to communicate with Cang once I obtain the luminary that corresponds to his remnant. It'd make things far more convenient. If only I could communicate with others this way too."

"How would that be possible? It only works for Cang Linzu because you two are good friends and karmically linked to each other. He also happens to have enough talent to awaken a lifearc, which set him on this fateful path. He must have done something that was to your benefit which can help your celestial arc grow. Something that affected the fates of many people. As such, the feedback from your celestial arc caused his lifearc to awaken."

It made too much sense to An Jing. "That's right. Cang has always been quite a reliable fellow. I can rest assured with him and Gu in charge of the rest. However, I can't go back to them just yet. I still need to grow stronger until I'm able to grasp my own celestial arc."

He continued along his path into the distance.

As the first year of the Jingchang Era came to a close, a massive once-in-millennia snow calamity occurred in the Hanhai Region, one of the thirteen regions of the Grand Chen Empire. This resulted in the formation of a massive army of allied northern barbarian tribes. Their expedition marched southward, raiding the seven prefectures of North Han. Millions of citizens became refugees and disappeared into the pale, snowy landscapes.

During the second year of the Jingchang Era, the city of Brightmont in Baihe Prefecture suffered from the barbarian invasion and the snow calamity. Millions of refugees traveled south and burst through the checkpoints set up by the authorities of Grand Chen, causing the other seven prefectures of Hanhai Circuit to fall into chaos. Bandits and demonic cults thrived unabated. Everywhere in the region that wasn't within city bounds turned into a pit of human suffering.

At the end of Year 3 of the Jingchang Era, a heavenly fiend was unsealed in Direlife Canyon, which was situated near the northwestern frontier of the Xishan Region. The cold winds of the snow calamity had also reached this land, sweeping through the three northern regions of Grand Chen, encompassing sixty-three prefectures.

The divine capital finally responded after much dallying, sending a large force northward in an attempt to restore order to the three regions. The young emperor, feeling responsible for the troubles, personally ascended to the peak of True Martial Mountain to pray that peace would be restored in the coming year, changing the era calendar to Yanping. Yet, all that merely heralded the arrival of a chaotic era.

During Year 1 of the Yanping Era, a young warrior with a heaven-ordained destiny firmed his resolve after surviving the snow calamity and escaping Direlife Manor. He continued to walk across the pale-white landscape. He would face all of it head-on.

At the start of the year, the traitor of the Heavenly Demon Cult, An Jing, made his grand return to civilization after a long absence by arriving at the largest city at the northwestern frontier, Keensight. He took his first step toward his new life, new journey, and newfound freedom, onto the path to change the world.

1. These are alternative astrological systems used in historic divination. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navagraha ☜