Destiny in Cinders

An incomprehensibly deep darkness oozed out of the cracks of the soldier's helmet. Oily shadows reached out like long feelers from the helmet as if they were searching for something. But before it found anything worthwhile, a loud whistle rang out in the air.

"Target sighted! It's the fiendspawn!"

The Crimsonguard troops stood alertly as they watched the manifestation of the subfiend appear at the center of Direlife Canyon. They yelled their war cries, triggering the appearance of many bright, tiny lines of text around their armor.

The troops assembled into a large military formation that glowed bright crimson in the middle of the forested canyon. Many beams of light lit up near the Crimsonguard's camp, illuminating the area around it. The Crimsonguard and their exorcising radiance forced the subfiend to give up on its search and disappear into the shadows once more.

Being a subfiend of the heavenly fiend, Liferot, it was adept at using some techniques that utilized vigor and could have easily detected An Jing's presence. However, he had disappeared for three whole days, forcing the subfiend to remain in hiding near Direlife Canyon before it was eventually chased out by the troops of Grand Chen. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Though it could mask its fiend qi using corpses as its shell, its movements were limited by the exorcism formation. No matter what kind of lead the subfiend found, it wouldn't be able to chase it down. Just like that, the fiend continued its game of hide-and-seek with the troops of Grand Chen.

In the meantime, An Jing, the priority target of every faction out there, had made his way to a nameless canyon stream two hundred li away. The distance that a martialist could cover with their mobility was truly stunning. An Jing was someone who grew up at the frontier and had survived a calamity, after all. Coupled with his mountain-crossing training at Direlife Manor, his legs were as powerful as a horse's.

I'll rest for a while, rehydrate and recover my energy. After this, I'll continue to run for a day and night into the deep mountains.

Unlike the foreign world, Void Embrace's rainwater wasn't acidic, keeping the river water safe. An Jing drank his fill to refresh himself before he took out his smoked fangboar meat, biting down on it with great force. He wanted to recover his energy as quickly as possible.

Thanks to his good memory, he remembered that it had taken up to six days for the demonic cult to transport him to Direlife Manor through the mountain ranges. Horse carriages weren't that fast; there was an upper limit to their full speed. Not to mention, they had to rest often. An Jing would be able to cover that distance if he traveled at full speed for a day and night and reach the settlements near the northwestern border of Grand Chen.

As the saying went, "guide the dragon to sea, release the tiger to the mountains." Once An Jing blended in with the townsfolk, he would have completely escaped the demonic cult and regained his freedom!

Having rested and recovered, he ascended to the tallest peak nearby and observed the terrain to plot his route. The bright lunar disc in the sky illuminated the boundless mountain-spanning forest, filled with trees so large that it would take more than a few people linking arms to surround them.

Some titanic trees reached so high that their canopies blocked out a huge portion of the moonlight. The deeper parts of the forest never got a single lick of sun or moonlight. Even so, that didn't mean that there weren't other sources of light in those parts.

Many luminescent vines that hung from the great trees, much like the vine creature from the foreign world, gave off their own glow, giving rise to weird, isolated ecologies within the deeper parts of the forest. The glow shone through intertwining branches and roots that formed a labyrinthine maze.

As An Jing wouldn't be able to use the moon and stars as a guide deep in the forest, he needed a high vantage point to chart his path beforehand.

It looks a bit slanted, but it's not a huge issue. The general direction is correct. Climbing up to the top of a tree, he saw a massive abandoned bird's nest on the way out. The shards of broken eggshell within looked as tall as half a person's height. It was definitely the nest of an avian beast about seven or eight meters tall.

I better stay far away from a monster like this. He remained on guard and decided to leave the mountains as quickly as he could. Having reoriented himself, he continued onward rapidly.

Along the way, he encountered a few beasts that were able to spot him even though he was using Profoundstep and Abyssedge Stake Aura Refining. However, they were no fools. The cost of engaging An Jing in a fight was too high, so they wouldn't bother a powerful foe like him unless he posed a threat to them. So long as he didn't enter their territories, the beasts merely moved aside and observed him from a distance.

However, there were some that didn't show the same courtesy. One of them was a creature that seemed like a fusion of a lizard and a chameleon. It used its camouflage and gecko feet pads to hide on the side of tall trees to ambush any unknowing prey that came near. When it spotted An Jing, who was laser focused on covering as much distance as it could, it launched its tongue out and tried to pull him into its stomach.

Normal mercantile or trekking groups would easily lose a few people to a beast like this. They wouldn't be able to spot it thanks to its camouflage and couldn't counterattack either. Not to mention, the reptilian beast could easily sneak into the labyrinthine forest and hide there. The only avenue available to most people was to leave its territory as quickly as possible or wait until the beast stopped once it had its fill.

An Jing was different, however; he had guns! He didn't need Yvelbane to warn him to know that the lizard beast's tongue was right ahead of him. Thanks to his awakened spirit roots, his senses were far sharper than the average martialist's, allowing him to sense that something was off. He avoided the tongue with ease, turned around, lifted his gun and fired.

Loud bangs thundered throughout the forest. The lizard's tongue was agile, but it was incredibly slow and got shot eight times in a row. It let out a loud shriek before backing off and rapidly escaping toward the labyrinth.

An Jing didn't waste any time chasing it down and stayed on course. The cry of the lizard was so loud that it also served as a warning for other beasts in the vicinity. Thanks to that, none of them dared to approach An Jing.

"My senses became so sharp after I awakened my spirit roots." He managed to avoid the web trap set up by another spider beast before he sat down for some rest. "Even though the spirit roots didn't come with new abilities, it improved my senses and even increased the control I have over my aura. Why did the people of Void Embrace stop using spirit roots and qi cultivation?"

Yvelbane, who had been observing An Jing's actions the whole time, said, "It is weird indeed. I had wanted you to cultivate your qi more in Void Embrace, but we were too short on time and didn't manage to find a chance. Since we're already hundreds of li away, it's rather unlikely for anyone to catch up to us. We do have that luxury now."

"That's true. Let's give it a try." An Jing nodded and found a quiet tree to sit cross legged under and closed his eyes to meditate.