Destiny in Cinders

Direlife Canyon was straight but also deep, surrounded by many mountain peaks. The multitude of streams from the mountain tops joined into a large and rapid river that flowed through the canyon's center. The banks of the river were rocky and covered in aquatic plants that waited for the arrival of the rainy season.

An Jing entered the depths of the canyon by following Yvelbane's instructions. The surroundings were covered in dense fog and vapor. It was so moist that a layer of moisture seemed to form around the rocky walls there. The river water that spilled out on the banks also erased all traces of footsteps.

Legend went that during an ancient calamity, a sword immortal had slain a fiend near the canyon, leaving behind sword qi and fiend qi deep within the mountains.

"It's right ahead," the sword soul said.

An Jing, like a protagonist of a legend, was covered in a layer of protective energy that kept the ink-colored fiend qi at bay. All he felt was a slight chill. "Yvelbane, where are the disciples that went to hide? Are they doing well?"

"They're in one of the caves that were created by the sword strikes years ago near the altar and doing very well," Yvelbane said.

An Jing could rest assured as far as they were concerned. Bai Qinghan had left with a quarter of survivors, all of whom had awakened their lifearcs. Even though it was a huge shock to him, he could understand why she did that. The actions of Grand Chen at the northern frontier, or lack thereof, was inhumane. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

However, An Jing knew that no matter how corrupt a withering empire was, they were much more reasonable than a cannibalistic cult. What if... Sigh... Fuck! Why are both of them so shitty? They're shittier than anyone can bear! An Jing really didn't want to pick either of those sides either. The only thing he could do was to observe the situation.

Before the snow calamity, the denizens of the northern frontier had decent lives as a result of the established order. Occasionally, they even heard of some brilliant policy that a government official had devised. However, the formerly prosperous Grand Chen fell into corruption before anyone noticed.

An Jing didn't want to blame the disciples who had chosen to side with the demonic cult. Normal disaster children stood little chance of surviving within the cult, but Bai Qinghan and the rest of the awakened stood a chance of becoming important figures there, a status that would make them much better off than if they had sided with Grand Chen. All An Jing hoped was that they wouldn't harm Cang Linzu, Gu Yeqi and the rest.

"Brother Jing!" A figure outside one of the caves that An Jing had been led to paced around nervously, looking around the cave entrance. Gu Yeqi's eyes lit up when she confirmed that it was An Jing and came forward in relief. "You're finally here! Oh? Did Qinghan and the others not come back with you?"

She had no idea that Bai Qinghan and the rest had left and thought they had been waiting for An Jing.

"They chose the other side," An Jing said to his close friend. He decided to be honest. "I killed the manor lord, but Qinghan still chose the demonic cult. She left with the other children and the instructors that survived."

"What?!" Gu Yeqi's eyes widened with disbelief. "You killed the manor lord?!"

The other disaster children also left the cave when they heard An Jing's footsteps. "Senior Disciple, you managed to kill the manor lord?!"

"Are you really that powerful?"

"Aren't you all focusing on the wrong thing?" An Jing didn't think that the rest wouldn't mind that Bai Qinghan and the others had left at all, focusing too much on his capabilities instead. Then again, it wasn't that weird. All the disaster children were used to losing friends from the elimination process. That was still the case even after they learned that those friends were killed. Loss was loss and it made no difference.

"I guess it's not a bad thing. Qinghan did manage to awaken her lifearc, at least," Gu Yeqi said, feeling rather sad for the loss of her close friend. The others didn't seem to mind either way.

This was the devious nature that the cult had instilled in them: disregard and silence. Even though they had already left the cult, their patterns of thought hadn't changed. An Jing even realized that the reason they were willing to betray the cult was more due to their trust in him rather than their hatred for the cult's cruelty. They didn't really understand the depths of his anger and chose to leave the cult just to side with him.

"Don't feel too bad about it. Before she left, she asked me to apologize to you. Some people just have to follow their own path," An Jing consoled her, before turning to the rest. "I will need you all to wait here for a little longer. The manor's defenders are still fighting the Crimsonguard. Grand Chen will not be able to discern whether we're innocent or affiliated with the cult, so don't make any rash moves before things calm down. If Grand Chen bears us ill will, I will find a chance to get to safety. Since there aren't any wild beasts in Direlife Canyon and there's even settlements nearby, I'm confident that I can help all of you survive."

An Jing wasn't just making empty promises. He was a proper Aura Realm martialist and had guns to boot. The disaster children were also strong and trained in martial techniques and cooperation. As long as they weren't discovered, An Jing could easily help them survive near the mountains for a period of time with Yvelbane's guidance.

"Big Brother," Cang Linzu said, "are you going to do something alone again? Can you take me with you? I'm capable of helping out, at least!"

"It's too dangerous. You are quite capable, but you still don't have aura, so you won't be able to keep up with me."

Cang Linzu was a genius in his own right and was close to breaking through to the Aura Realm. If not for An Jing's interference in weakening the tribulation of the fiend qi, he and Gu Yeqi would've most likely awakened their lifearcs.

Patiently, he explained, "There's a dungeon near the eastern farm plots of the manor where quite a few of the eliminated children are kept. They haven't been killed and processed by the cult yet, so I have to check on them. If the manor begins to burn, they might perish helplessly if nobody helps them. Now that I'm sure you're safe, I have to go save them."

He gave a few more instructions and consoled the other disaster children before leaving. Gu Yeqi and Cang Linzu didn't argue against him and instead helped the others treat their injuries.

He followed Yvelbane's instructions to the altar near the cave where the disaster children had taken shelter and saw the rift that had been covered up by stone and aquatic plants. The rift was a natural formation. It looked just like any crack in stone, but the tightness was actually an illusion. When it opened up, it widened into a tunnel.

The tunnel's walls were covered in ancient murals, though most of it had been erased by the rising water level of the river. An Jing could still make out the rough picture of the story that the murals were trying to tell: that of the immortal who slayed a fiend to protect the people.

The world of Void Embrace had experienced a grand calamity in ancient times. Countless heavenly fiends had come into the world from a place beyond the nine heavens, bringing strife, disaster and destruction with them. Nations fell, the weather went haywire, countless clans went extinct, many of which took each other out in hate-filled strife.

To deal with the heavenly fiends, the immortals that had ascended to the heavens returned to the world and led the mortals to resist them. One of those immortals was the one who had slain the fiends with a sword, banishing all that was evil.