Destiny in Cinders

Yvelbane's blade was chipped and derelict with only its soul remaining. It wasn't a big deal, since the soul was the true core of its being. As long as they found suitable materials in the future, the vessel for the soul could be restored.

The reason for Yvelbane's utter shock was that it had once reached a state of absolute immutability in the past. Even though that didn't mean it was indestructible, its spirit relic would remain intact even if its soul itself was wiped out.

The truth, however, was the opposite. Yvelbane's sword soul was completely unharmed, while the sword vessel itself seemed to be corroded. What was even more incomprehensible was the fact that its soul didn't really contain any memories.

"Someone robbed me of my memories by causing my blade to rot!" This was the only conclusion that Yvelbane could come to. "It must be the doing of the heavenly fiends. They have always acted in ways that defy common sense. There's no way they would be able to steal my memories while leaving my soul unharmed! I have to get it back, but I don't even know what I've forgotten!"

Yvelbane's rage was understandable. It knew it was damaged and thought it could at least begin to repair itself by finding the shard, only to learn that it hadn't been possible in the first place.

"How can I help you?" An Jing asked, tone calm. He had been helped a lot by Yvelbane, so returning the favor was only natural.

The sword soul calmed down quickly. "It's fine. Thank you, An Jing. Now's not the time. You should save your friends first. The scope of what I'm dealing with is far too wide. It must have something to do with the ancient calamity of heavenly fiends. If you act rashly, the ones involved with that ancient calamity might notice you. We are still really weak, so we should proceed carefully. It wouldn't be too late to come back to this once you're stronger."

Yvelbane was incredibly rational. The recovery of the soul was not pointless either. For starters, recovering more of its soul allowed it to help An Jing stabilize his sea of consciousness, enabling him to hide his presence better and improving his mastery of Sword of Tranquility. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Additionally, Yvelbane's ability to open pathways to the other world also improved. When it was just the hilt, Yvelbane's pathways could only last a few hours, so An Jing had to return to Void Embrace within the short time limit. That limit had just been extended to a few days.

For now, Yvelbane didn't gain too much. Most of its gains were spatial. Before it recovered the shard, An Jing's entry and exit coordinates were fixed, so even if he used Yvelbane to escape a dangerous situation, he wouldn't be able to emerge at a different location. The improvement did allow him to make an exit point within the radius of a li[1] from the original entry point.

The number of times he could open pathways had also increased from once every few days to once every sunrise and sundown. The reason sunrise and sundown were used was that Yvelbane used cyclic intent from solar and lunar cycles to open pathways. In some minor worlds, these cycles were much faster, thereby increasing the frequency that Yvelbane could perform this operation.

"Lastly, I can also be used as a weapon to fell all things evil, though I can only harm souls and my reach is limited." Yvelbane said, sounding much more relaxed. "Being nothing but a hilt for so many years, I almost feel like I've lost the right to be a sword. At the very least, I've managed to reclaim some of my dignity today."

"Is it that different?" An Jing said.

"You're a human, so you wouldn't understand. Either way, no matter how hard I am to use, I'm still a weapon, not a decoration. Anyway, try to form the lethal-qi sword again."

An Jing did as he was told, circulating vigor to form the blood-colored sword of lethal qi in his hand. Yvelbane's main body within his sea of consciousness glowed brightly as hints of silver came out from the edges of the blade.

"Is this soft glow an enhancement?" An Jing felt as if a sharp qi wrapped around the lethal-qi sword in his hand.

"Even though I'm half-broken, my soul enhancement can make your weapons and abilities more potent. You'll be able to damage vile and fiendish things even more. What you feel now is only the most surface-level sensation. My existence is connected to your sea of consciousness, so I might also be able to improve your talent in swordsmanship, though it's already high to begin with. Even in my era, I haven't seen any twelve-year-old with your level of cultivation."

The sword started sounding even more interested. "Come to think of it, you seem rather well versed in the flying-sword technique that you used to kill the manor lord. Isn't it the first time you used it? And yet, you managed to achieve so much with it. As expected of the one who awakened me. Your talent in the sword truly is mighty!"

That's a gun, not a sword... Forget it, flying swords it is. An Jing couldn't be bothered to explain the distinction. Though, he also felt rather curious about his familiarity with firearms. Once again, he wondered what he had done in his previous life. Wasn't I just some disciple of a dojo? Why would I know how to use guns? There isn't any prohibition on using guns in martial fights, is there? Wait, they're flying swords! They count! It should be fine!

"I should get moving." He shook his head to focus his attention and scanned his surroundings. Once he and Yvelbane verified that there was nothing valuable nearby, he decided to leave the place.

As he left, the pale jade floor and walls transitioned into a large hall of plain stone. An Jing traversed the place using Profoundstep. He didn't go back to Direlife Manor, which was surrounded by the Crimsonguard, though they didn't dare to enter it due to the fiend qi that blocked their way.

He avoided the Crimsonguard and crawled up the steep slope, which wasn't too difficult for a Tide-Aura martialist. He circled around and made it to the rear yard of the manor where the waterfall and the source of the river was. Then, he followed the river, an escape route he had once considered using, and made it to the undefended rear side of Direlife Manor.

The forces of the Crimsonguard were besieging the cult with little progress. They weren't willing to suffer heavy casualties by running up against the manor's fortifications. The cult's defenders were also content on letting the battle drag out. The main battlefronts were situated at the manor's main entrance and the mountain to the west, leaving the east and rear sides of the manor rather empty.

Luckily for me, they're not fighting near the east. Once An Jing ascertained the situation from a high vantage point, he slowly approached the eastern farm plots. Given his capabilities and familiarity with the manor's layout, there was no way for the instructors or defenders to detect him, let alone the Crimsonguard.

As he made his way there, he searched through with the things he had looted from the manor lord. There were three metal tubes filled with medicines. According to Yvelbane, they were anhedonic agents used for hypnosis, bedazzling agents used to confuse people and killing agents. The jade dagger was less a weapon and more a ritual implement.

As for the tiny bottle, there were three pills within them. Based on the smell, they seemed like heart-saving pills or something similar. There were also two pieces of jade that seemed semi translucent with a bright, green halo at the center. They seemed valuable, but An Jing had no idea what they were, nor why the manor lord would carry these expensive-looking things on his person. No doubt, they were worth quite a bit, so it couldn't hurt for him to hold onto them.

"An enshrined deity's will has dwelled within the green dagger for a long time, making it an artifact of sorts. It might be useful to keep it around. As for the two pieces of souljade, they seem to be average in quality, but they'll help with cultivation. You can also use them to activate some tools that only cultivators can use."

"Can martialists also use them?" An Jing knew that the term "cultivator" referred to qi cultivators. When Yvelbane answered in the affirmative, he made sure to put the souljades away carefully. I can't waste cultivation resources!

Eventually, he reached the eastern farm plots. Right as he was about to scale the wall to get in, he stopped and furrowed his brow. There's someone there.

Using Profoundstep, he jumped to the top of the wall quietly, hiding his presence and looking inside. He grit his teeth when he saw three cultists raise a dark-gold dish and pointed it at an open medicinal vat.

The dish absorbed the sludge within, separating it into crimson vigor and white lifearc power before reducing them to powder and condensing them into tiny blood-brew pills!

1. Standardized to 500 meters in modern times. ☜