Destiny in Cinders

"Indeed." An Jing appreciated Yvelbane's caution. "The slightest misstep could have led me down the wrong path!"

He had felt that the Evenstar seal seed in his body didn't interact with the spirit qi in the outside world as it was a purely internal cultivation technique. While it was possible to speed it up using external spirit qi, it wasn't necessary at all.

Yvelbane could have been a sword immortal from ancient times. Even if there were things that it couldn't predict, its best practices still helped An Jing avoid many pitfalls. It just so happened that Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal was a body refinement technique that could use outside materials without fearing corruption from fiend qi. Given that body refinement techniques were resistant to fiend-qi corruption, perhaps this was the reason Void Embrace switched from immortal qi cultivation to lifearc martial cultivation.

"It seems like I can only obtain spirit qi and mystic metals from other worlds. Guess I would have to leave Void Embrace to cultivate qi properly."

He jumped off the tree branch and continued on his way. An Jing had the kind of personality that prevented him from overthinking things he couldn't solve. The corruption of Void Embrace's spirit qi was the result of a world-spanning disaster in ancient times, which he could simply do nothing about. However, though the spirit qi was corrupted, all material aspects of Void Embrace were intact and even thriving!

As he zipped through the forest, he grabbed many seasonal fruits with him. Though they were a little too sour and were somewhat toxic, it balanced well against the greasiness of the boar he had just consumed and also helped temper his aura.

He hadn't seen anything else edible in the foreign world apart from the fangboar. The plants there were black and hard, often having needle-shaped leaves that made them hard to swallow.

He spent the rest of the day crossing the wilderness. The world of Void Embrace was wide and vast. An Jing had traveled more than two thousand li since his departure, which was a distance that spanned two or three Chinese provinces from his previous life. Yet, all the land he crossed was only a part of the northwestern mountain ranges. Some of the hills at the periphery were also settled.

By the time An Jing emerged from the ancient forest, he had experienced his second evening since he started moving. He had also finished his supply of dried meat, not that he had to worry about procuring more food. He could already see light and smoke coming from the frontier villages in the distance.

"Finally, I've returned to the edge of civilization." Light began to peek through the gaps between the leaves and fell on his skin. An Jing looked at the signs of life in the distance and sighed. "A few more days of travel and I should be able to reach the northwestern frontier cities. Things are going much smoother than I thought. There doesn't seem to be anyone on my tail either. Do I still need to cross worlds to shake anyone off?"

His original plan was to travel for a full day and night while waiting for Yvelbane's Grandvoid Pathway to recharge before going back into hiding. This way, if someone really had been following in his footsteps, they would believe that he had blended in with the townsfolk of the settlements and would never imagine that he had disappeared into a different world altogether. They would send people to those settlements to search for him rather than set up camp to wait for his return. Then again, would anyone really keep following him after he'd gone so far?

Yvelbane's answer was: "Absolutely. Don't underestimate how much you're worth. You bear a miracle arc and are a rare, talented martialist. All the disaster children call you 'Senior Disciple.' You're not just any normal martialist. You're someone with a bright future ahead of you, a talent that even I acknowledge!

"Putting aside other interested parties, don't you think your friends would use their households' influence to look for you? Both Grand Chen and the demonic cult wouldn't give up on someone of your potential. They might even use tracking abilities to find you!

"Two thousand li might be far for a normal person, but you yourself managed to cross that in a day's time. It's not that far of a distance for people with lifearc abilities. I can still see threads of fate and tribulation around you, so you're far from safe just yet."

"Well said." An Jing listened to Yvelbane's advice. He had thought far too simply of these matters. Two thousand li was nothing for martialists like him. His pursuers didn't even need to have trailed him the whole time as there were lifearc abilities that could pinpoint his location. All they had to do was to send people there to hunt him down, in which case running would do him no good at all.

Right before An Jing was about to erase his presence and slip into the foreign world, his enhanced hearing allowed him to pick up on a soft hum from the distant sky. The hum got louder as the seconds passed.

An Jing widened his eyes and saw a floating ship flying towards him! It was a flying shuttle about six zhang in length. [1] It had a flat bottom that was spread out widely with two propellers on each side to provide lift and thrust. However, there didn't seem to be any mechanism that allowed for directional control, so the ship was probably piloted using some special technique.

The shuttle soared across the sky above the forest. Then, eight figures jumped out of it from a height of hundreds of meters, spreading their bodies wide as they landed in different spots, creating dust clouds on where they fell. They rapidly began to scour the forest in search of something.

"There are flying shuttles in Void Embrace too? Did they come for me? I wonder if it's Grand Chen or the demonic cult..." Though surprised, he didn't feel any fear and continued his observation. "How in the world did they find me?"

He soon got an answer to his question: It was the demonic cult. He noticed two familiar figures on the flying shuttle. They were the people who had purchased him from the northern frontier. One was the one-eyed Instructor Li, aide of the manor lord, while the other was a lifearc bearer, the scribe in white. He was dressed in identical robes. There was a light-green eye-shaped totem hovering behind him, rotating nonstop and scanning the surroundings.

"He's the one," Yvelbane said. "This person has been using a tracking ability to locate you!"

1. One 丈 zhang is about 3.2 meters. ☜