Destiny in Cinders

"That was..." When An Jing opened his eyes, it was already dawn. The others had yet to awaken. He reached out subconsciously to grab onto something, causing the broken sword to manifest in his hand. When he properly came to, he realized that he was covered in sweat.

As the sword hummed softly in his hand, he looked down at it and muttered, "Felling fiends... bane of all that is evil... Is that your name?"

"I don't remember," the sword said calmly. "I am broken and remember little. I'm not just missing memories. I also have many internal contradictions."

"Why did you choose me?" An Jing asked.

"The other children didn't have the kind of drive of curiosity you did. They would fear and forget." The sword chuckled. "However, you didn't forget about them. That's why I decided to speak out to keep you from getting yourself killed so soon. And I was proven right. After you learned the truth, you wanted to slaughter all these vile crooks. You are the bane of all that's evil. That is why I have chosen you."

An Jing sighed. "Mister Yvelbane? Miss Yvelbane? What should I call you? If you have other techniques, teach them to me quickly. I doubt Sword of Tranquility alone will be enough for me to survive a demonic-cult-controlled manor with a manor lord of the Fortification Realm. Those basic techniques won't do squat either."

"That's true. No need for mister or misses, by the way. I'm a genderless sword. Just call me sword soul, or Yvelbane if you prefer. As for other techniques, I can definitely teach them to you. I used to be a sword of the immortals, so I know their ways. Even in my current state, I can still teach you without issue.

"But since the world of Void Embrace fell to calamity, the people here gave up on the path of cultivating their spirit root and qi refinement in favor of lifearcs and martial techniques. There must be a deep reason behind this development, so I don't dare to teach you anything else until I know more about why this is the case."

"Spirit root? Qi refinement?" He furrowed his brow. He was decently well read and he tried to recall everything he could. "You mean stuff like drawing talismans, bestowing incantations and calling on the fiends and the divine?"

"That is but a part of qi cultivation of days past. In my era, martial training was only one branch of the body refinement discipline. Even those that dabble in it would return to the proper path of qi refinement.

"However, the world of Void Embrace has developed a new line of martial disciplines that don't seem to lead to the immortal path at all. That is why I'm hesitant to teach you. From what I can remember, there are no sects that focus solely on martial techniques. But if you're willing to take a risk, I have a suggestion."

Yvelbane began to reminisce. "I have something from a sword sect. It's called 'Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal.'"

The sword had waited far too long before finding a suitable candidate like An Jing, so it had had lots of time to plan things out. "This technique gathers qi to be refined into lethal qi, which is then refined into a seal seed infused into the body. It is a top-tier body refinement sword technique, though achieving basic mastery is incredibly difficult. You require pure lethal qi refined from qi essence to allow your body to manifest an Evenstar seal seed. Then, you need to nourish it using metal essence.

"Once you reach a milestone, you'll achieve a grand ability called the Evenstar Disaster Impervious Body. This method doesn't require any outside forces nor draws on spirit and lethal qi from the outside. It's pure internal cultivation. Even though it's incredibly hard, it's still something that you can achieve regardless of how the world and the surrounding environment has changed.

"Pure lethal qi is hard to come by, but you already have my sword lethal qi as a catalyst. With enough resources, you'll be able to gain basic mastery quickly. You can use this to become a cultivator of the immortal path. By then, no blade or arrow technique will be able to do you harm. It should be the most suited to this world."

Yvelbane pondered longer and added, "However, using this method requires lots of mystic metals like purple tin. It is incredibly wasteful to the point that some call the technique Evenstar Metal-Devourer Divine Seal. The only question now is whether Direlife Manor has any mystic metals you can use."

"That's right..." An Jing calmed his earlier excitement. "Cultivation sounds amazing, but it's pointless if I can't even get started."

"You'll get your chance," Yvelbane consoled. "Just keep an eye out for now. Direlife Manor has armories and warehouses. Maybe you'll find the mystic metals you need."

"That's true. Thank you." He regulated his emotions as the others started to wake up. It was almost time for him to lead the others during the training session.

Everything seemed to be normal, with only Cang Linzu noticing that something was amiss. He whispered, "Boss, your eyes are a little bloodshot. Did you not sleep well?"

"I dreamed of the people who left us," An Jing said, patting his shoulder with a smile.

"Boss, to think that you'd dream of them—" Before he could finish, he got dragged by An Jing to the training grounds and was worked so hard that he could barely breathe, let alone talk. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

During the afternoon, An Jing met the manor lord "by coincidence" during the training session. The old man smiled encouragingly, while An Jing gave him a calm look. One might take it as a display of obedience or cold, unfeeling calm. The other side was waiting, enduring. Laying in ambush and clenching its claws before the pounce.

The days went by pretty quickly. After the twelve groups of nine people each got set in stone, the training routines of Direlife Manor returned to a fixed rhythm. An Jing feigned calmness as he continued to train himself without showing any of his true side.

Gradually, he gained mastery over his aura. Using Sword of Tranquility, he improved his aura and vigor as efficiently as he could given the resources that Direlife Manor provided him.

Due to his firm starting base, he was able to break through immediately to the River Aura Stage, skipping the Silk Aura Stage entirely. He required a terrifying amount of nutrients; even the special extra serving allotted to him as senior disciple wasn't enough to sate him. He was also always the first to finish his food.

Normally, Direlife Manor wouldn't give more resources than one deserved, but the manor lord seemed to give his tacit approval and let An Jing consume three times the amount of food of normal disciples. His impressive appetite and digestive capabilities made the other disciples of Direlife Manor respect him even more, especially when it was clear that his figure wasn't bloating from all the food. Needless to say, he broke down the food into nutrients to feed his growth.

The Aura Realm was also known as the Three Nourishments of Aura. The gap between each stage was huge indeed. In the Silk Aura Stage, aura was like droplets from a summer shower. It was enough to wet the lips, but dried out rapidly. That was why An Jing's mother left an opening for the bandit leader to wound her even though she had killed seven bandits moments before.

Once aura was nurtured past a certain extent, it would begin to flow in the body like a river. At the River Aura Stage, aura was like a puddle that could persist even on the hottest, driest of days, allowing one to use it for long periods of time, becoming a martialist in the truest sense.

An Jing's aura had initially only been just a sliver more potent than what was expected of the Silk Aura Stage, being akin to a little stream. He could use it for an extended period of one or two minutes. But thanks to the cult's resources, it grew to the point that he could keep it circulating for close to three minutes.