Destiny in Cinders

Deep underground, the air was so stagnant and thin that it was almost impossible to breathe. Bodies littered the ground, frozen in their final, frantic struggle for breath. The underground ruins were once full of life, but a sudden loss of air killed almost everyone in an instant.

While most of the remains had long withered into bone, a few bodies along the path seemed relatively fresh compared to the rest. The corpses were dressed in heavy armor, plain clothes and even exploration gear, and the surrounding terrain showed clear evidence of a violent struggle.

Some had fallen to internal strife, while others perished from overexertion in a fight against invisible creatures. The clothing and equipment on some of these corpses match those that An Jing saw in the cave earlier. It seemed they were part of the same ill-fated group.

"Tread carefully and whatever you do, don't turn back," Yvelbane warned, interrupting An Jing's inspection of the corpses. "A powerful formation remains active here. Weak-willed intruders will be pulled into an illusion and tormented by their inner demons. There, they fight one another or monsters of their own making until their bodies simply give out. The formation is harmless to those leaving the area, so you'll be fine as long as you keep moving forward."

"I see." An Jing arched an eyebrow and gave a slight nod. After defeating the heavenly fiend during the ritual, he had outgrown the fear of such illusions. But he refused to waste his energy, especially since he had no plans to turn back. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

But why would anyone hinder the exploration of these ruins with such a powerful formation? Who was behind it, and what was their ultimate goal?

As An Jing pressed on, his eyes lingered on the corpses. Then, it finally clicked.

"The explorers must have been worn down by the mental and physical strain of these illusions, making them easy prey for the vine creature. The formation and that creature work too well together for this to be a coincidence. Did it really form naturally?"

Though he couldn't make sense of it, there was no use lingering on these questions now. An Jing shook his head. "It was the right call to avoid going any further. This place is a death trap. It's best to leave as soon as possible."

Composing himself, he continued forward.

Between the corpses carpeting the ground and the bone-chilling dampness dripping from above, going through the underground caves felt like a descent into the bowels of hell. Yet An Jing showed neither fear nor hesitation, his heart beating steadily.

He had stared down his own true hell, and no outside terror could ever hope to rattle him. An Jing moved in silence, accompanied only by his footsteps and the slow, rhythmic thud of his heart, until at last, he reached the exit. After several hours in that eternal labyrinth, a burst of light finally parted the dark. He froze for a moment before he finally began to relax.

"Finally, it's over." With a long exhale, he came to a halt. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he ensured he was ready for battle before concealing his presence and creeping toward the light at the exit.

Observing this, Yvelbane swallowed its warning and revealed a trace of admiration.

The entrance to the cave was deserted, free of lurking beasts with no human camp in sight. Still concealing his presence, An Jing narrowed his eyes against the brightness and edged out of the cave into the open light.

The opening wasn't circular or arched. It was a horizontal crack in the mountain stretching tens of meters across but barely reaching three meters in height. It was as if a sword had struck from a distance, slicing clean through the mountain down to the hidden underground waterways. The drying groundwater eventually gave way to a maze of tunnels and caverns, and those who stumbled upon this place built a magnificent temple within its depths, a hidden sanctuary for rest and recuperation.

An Jing stepped out of the cave and found himself nestled in the mountains. Perched halfway to the summit, he swept his gaze across the endless wilderness and the mantle of dark clouds above.

The peaks met the clouds and the winds scoured the sands. Sparse clusters of green broke the desolate expanse. A turbid river snaked along the mountain range toward the edge of the wasteland, passing what looked like human settlements or perhaps the ruins of an ancient town. A gritty gust lashed his skin, and the acrid scent of corrosion and dry earth jolted him to his senses.

"Is this what the other world is like? What a vast, desolate expanse."

His eyes widening, An Jing took in the sprawling barrens. Behind him lay the undulating majesty of an endless mountain range, but ahead, a gargantuan shadow dominated the horizon. The shadow dwarfed the clouds, its depths flickering with scattered light.

Is that a city?

Narrowing his gaze, An Jing sensed that the dark mass was no distant mountain, but an orderly man-made structure.

Is it possible for humans to build a structure so grand it can pierce the clouds?

Before he could process the thought, Yvelbane's warning was already reverberating through his sea of consciousness.

"An Jing!" Yvelbane cried out, its voice betraying a rare flicker of astonishment. "Look above you!"

An Jing looked up.

The sound hit him before he could see anything. It was a sequence of deep thrumming vibrations, like the low hum of a colossal whale or the call of a mythical kunpeng.[1] It spilled from behind the clouds and scaled the heights of the sky, resonating across heaven and earth.

An Jing clenched his fist instinctively, manifesting the blood-lethal-qi sword in a flash. A sense of extreme danger gripped him as the premonition of encountering a titan unlike anything he had ever known immediately set his entire being on edge. A powerful downdraft whipped An Jing's face as the thick, hidden, barrier-like cloud wall parted, layer by layer, unveiling a blinding light that cascaded from the sky's crest.

Beams of light, like miniature suns, impaled the ground below. A colossal immortal warship the size of a city parted the clouds and began its descent into the world below.

The mountain-sized aircraft had a sleek and smooth silhouette. The main hull of the blue-gray warship was covered in intricate, root-like patterns that gave it a sense of mystery and indestructibility. Neatly arranged luminous formations pulsed with a faint glow, flickering in sequence like measured breaths. They seemed to inhale and exhale spirit qi, releasing a dazzling radiance across the land, accompanied by the low, haunting song of the whales.

"What in the world..."

Amid the wind and humming, An Jing dispelled his sword. He took an unconscious step forward, his eyes wide with disbelief, and looked up at the massive object in the sky.

"A warship? An immortal warship? What sort of world is this?!"

1. The kunpeng is a mythical creature that looks like a mix of a fish and a bird. According to legends, the Kun can swim in the sea and then turn into the Peng bird to fly in the sky ☜