Destiny in Cinders

"Why are there two overlaid manifestations?" When An Jing had swung his sword in his mental world at the altar to slay his inner demon, the manor lord looked intensely at the lifearc manifestation above An Jing's head. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Among the Seven Arcs, evil and odd ones were mostly harmful to their bearers. In essence, they would twist and change one's nature and fate. For instance, Heavenkill Lonestar and Ten Evil Annihilation might grant weak powers as far as lifearcs went, but it didn't matter. The former caused one to be eternally lonely and disconnected while the other would twist one to become a sick sadist.

Those with mixed arcs had a wide range of possibilities. For instance, Flame Whisperer allowed one to use fire more proficiently while Divine Smith made one excel at crafting. Those with Megamorph would grow incredibly huge and be blessed with proportional strength.

There were also many weird and unexpected ones, but those didn't make one stand out much. In a way, most people who were really focused on achieving specific career milestones would unknowingly awaken those lifearcs.

When lifearcs were awakened, halo manifestations appeared behind one's head in the form of rings of differently colored light. Those with root arcs were much stronger and stood out from the crowd. They were often unique down to the root of their being, hence the name, and could awaken abilities, which could be used to develop many more elaborate techniques. Those with root arcs had well-defined totems on their halos.

Miracle arcs were split into the categories of "grand" and "apex." Celestial arcs came straight as a result of heavenly will, while only reincarnations of immortals or gods would have divine arcs. In effect, that made miracle arcs the most precious lifearcs typically borne by humans.

Apart from totems, many other odd manifestations appeared during lifearc awakenings. For instance, Bai Qinghan's lifearc manifested with a grand splattering of frost and moonlit brilliance An Jing's manifested a sword formation of blood lethal qi.

Bai Qinghan's manifestation was easy to understand as it was among the most documented profound-yin manifestations. An Jing's, however, was too complex to easily understand. Though one was able to see Pyrestar Warden and manifestations of rivers of lethal blood, there were also signs of Evenstar Eclipse, which could be linked to Evenstar metal sword intent. There were swords of blood that were arranged into formations, crimson flames streaked with gold, reigniting forges and scattered metal cinders. Outwardly, it looked to be Pyrestar manifestations, yet there seemed to be hints of Evenstar metal manifestations within.

As one person could never bear two lifearcs, it was typically impossible for two lifearc planets, or lifestars, to manifest at once. Unless... they were gods and this was a divine arc! There was no way this was possible unless An Jing was an actual incarnation of an immortal or god, like a fallen star in the mortal realm. Either that, or An Jing carried some kind of ultimate treasure that could suppress the workings of fate.

"We hit the jackpot! Perhaps he's the child of fortune that emerged as a result of the snow calamity! A remnant left behind from the battles between the Heavenly Court and the heavenly fiends! I... Hahahahaha!" Regardless of which possibility it was, it made the manor lord's hand tremble with excitement. Hope and greed filled his mind as he glared intensely at the crimson starlight coming from behind An Jing.

Suddenly, he stopped his manic laughter. With the coldest tone he could muster, he ordered, "Li Xiang, prepare a godbinder rope. Zhao Xinruo, return to the manor immediately and use a secret talisman to inform the Lord Inspector of the North that we got far more than we expected!"

The manor lord began to channel the Imperial Sky Art to make himself into a cold, calculating machine, suppressing his own greed and desires. "No, inform headquarters about this immediately! This situation is already far beyond what Direlife Manor's northwestern branch alone can handle!"

Right as he finished planning his next move, the manor lord saw a pair of eyes, wakeful, calm, and cold, glaring back at him intensely. He was so stunned to see the eyes open that he snapped out of the Imperial Sky Art's calm state. "How could this be?! An Jing, why... why did you wake up?!"

"I have always been awake," An Jing said, rising with a sword in hand. The children on the altar behind him had their eyes all wide open.

"How did this happen?!" The manor lord was stunned beyond belief at the sight of those wakeful eyes. The ritual had yet to end, so the children should've still been under the influence of their inner demons! How were they awake?

Even if some woke up, it should've only been Bai Qinghan and An Jing! There was also how the hand of the heavenly fiend retreated rapidly from the canyon, as if it was stunned by something and gave up on the sacrificial offerings in the formation. Even so, the hand seemed to be kept bound there by the formation by illusory chains. The hand seemed unable to retreat further even as the fiendish miasma began to clear up.

The entire sacrificial grounds covered in white sand quieted down in that instant. The instructors and lecturers who had been bleeding out to sustain the ritual formation began to wonder if they were dreaming what they saw.

The Imperial Sky Starslaying Grand Ritual was still running, yet the heavenly fiend's hand had been cut and injured and was trying to retreat into the canyon. Not to mention, the children who should've been trapped in an unconscious battle with their inner demons rose and raised their weapons, looking back at them with a perplexed yet hostile look.

Standing at the very front was their leader, the prime crop who had awakened his lifearc, An Jing. He was regulating the ritual formation's power at the very center of the altar and resisting them! This was no accident!

"An Jing, what happened?" the manor lord asked, his mind racing and reaching the conclusion of An Jing's stance. As he prepared the hand sigil, he said with a grim expression and voice, "You are under the influence of the heavenly fiend. You need to calm down— By the decree of the Olden Heavenly Father, strike fear into all!"

The old man interrupted his words with a swift incantation as he traced his jade dagger across his wrist, spilling blood into the air. At the same time, an ebony talisman formed around his fingers that held the hand sigil, causing patterns to spread throughout the formation. The manor lord took control of the formation in an attempt to stun the souls of An Jing and the rest.

But right as he executed the command, the patterns sank like stones in the ocean. The manor lord's heart weighed heavily into his chest. Curses! We've lost all control over the ritual!

An Jing bit his left thumb without hesitation and spilled blood to issue a command as well. "By the decree of the Olden Heavenly Father, I take command over the demonic and godly forces!"

Ice-cold starlight flooded out from the formation to form chains that shot out towards the heavenly fiend's hand, pulling it back as it continued to retreat. Then, the chains emitted bone-piercing sword light and fused with the black miasma, rapidly transforming into a majestic phantom of a three-headed six-armed creature.

Though it was a phantom, it had an incredibly real presence. The fiend stood three stories tall, breaking apart rocks and boulders as it raised its head and glared at the instructors and lecturers of the demonic cult. Bloody light emanated from its four normal eyes and two celestial eyes.