Destiny in Cinders

"The reason I got hurt this time was my low cultivation. I'm only at the River Aura Stage, and I only managed to manifest a single seal seed with Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal and haven't gone beyond that."

An Jing didn't depart from the waste-disposal facility right away. Instead, he went to a quiet spot and picked a half-buried but still intact airship. He used some scrap to block out the windows and opened the ship's bullet-hole-covered doors. He entered the ship and began to rest and recover after asking Yvelbane to keep watch.

The brute force from the fiend's palm-needle attack had hurt his lungs. His mind was also rather unsettled as a result of the fiendnoise. He had to recover fully to ensure that he would be in good condition to resist any further attacks.

Fortunately, the martial techniques of Void Embrace were rather impressive and also improved the natural healing abilities of the physical body. By channeling aura throughout his body, spreading warmth all over, he quickly managed to stabilize his breathing.

Two hours later, he opened his eyes and exhaled a blood-scented breath. "My cultivation is still too insufficient. Even with a good artifact like the OverSight, I wasn't able to harm the heavenly fiend that much."

"Don't put yourself down like this. You're only twelve and managed to reach the River Aura Stage. That's the mark of a genius. And yet, you're still craving strength. As for Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal, there were many people who weren't able to form a single seal seed after years of learning the technique, yet you managed it almost right away. Even with your celestial arc and my guidance, your own effort no doubt played a huge part."

An Jing knew that he was growing really quickly already. It was just that the factions in Void Embrace came one after another after him. Neither the heavenly fiend nor demonic cult showed the slightest bit of mercy and went all out on him, hence his desperation.

Either way, having averted the crisis, he was free to roam to greater heights. He regulated his aura as he thought about what he should do next. "To prioritize, I should focus on getting even more powerful weapons. I should also find a way to mitigate the effects of fiendnoise so I can still move under its influence. I need the kind of cultivation that will prevent a simple aftershock from stunning me.

"There's no quick way to improve on the martial path because of technique mastery. So, I have to focus on Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal instead. I should look for some resources for the immortal cultivation path in the black market.

"As for the vilespawn fiend, its physical body seemed to be around the Clearing Realm in power. The OverSight was able to kill the white-robed scribe in a single blow, yet it couldn't even pierce through the palm of the vilespawn fiend. The explosion was only able to harm its fingers at best. And if my guess is right, the fiend also has impressive regeneration. I should factor in elements like fire and ice to counter its regeneration when I shop for weapons. Yvelbane, have I missed anything?"

"Your analysis is on point. Vilespawn fiends have powerful physical capabilities and regeneration. They can consume other lifeforms to restore themselves. However, their arcane power is limited as a result. You are even more powerful than it in this regard. You've already managed to awaken Ailment Swordfinger through an application of Qiform Arsenal, which is much more powerful in terms of arcane output than the passive fiend-qi corruption that fiends are capable of.

"However, there's one problem. The vilespawn fiend was tracking you down because the greater heavenly fiend that created it took interest in you. It was either the one who was suppressed by my fragment in Direlife Canyon or the one that came later to the former's aid. Getting the attention of either one is sure to bring you a great tribulation. The fact that you've eluded the vilespawn fiend will only make their interest in you grow. You're still in grave danger!"

An Jing listened quietly to the sword soul's summary. "However, they don't have an easy time entering our reality, do they?"

"That's true. I don't know why, but Void Embrace's fiend-qi concentration is already rather high. Yet, the heavenly fiends themselves seem to be suppressed by the very same fiend qi. I suspect that they're only able to manifest in reality for a short period of time and otherwise remain dormant in the nether realm. They seem to have to pay a huge cost to manifest properly or have to prepare for a long time in advance. That's why all they will do is send out subfiends to test you no matter how interested they are. Of course, things might change if they realize that I am with you."

"Yeah." An Jing knew that Yvelbane was related to the heavenly fiends in a significant way. It was very likely the fiendslaying sword of antiquity, hence its full name, Yvelbane "Evilbane" Fiendslayer.

"If possible, you should buy some lightning weapons rather than ice or fire ones. The sword case you have uses lightning to accelerate its projectiles. When coupled with my enhancement, it was able to deal some damage to the vilespawn fiend.

"One more thing, An Jing. Real Qi Refinement immortal cultivators or Clearing Realm martialists won't easily be hurt by flying swords of this caliber. Apart from reinforcing their physical bodies, they have other martial abilities that you have to look out for. That's why you don't just have to get weapons that will work on fiends. You need some anti-personnel weapons too."

"I know." An Jing pressed on his chest and felt a mild pain coming from within. "My lungs have also gotten rather injured this time around. I need a full day of regulative recovery."

After some more thinking, he said, "I also need merits for all that. Either way, we have to enter the city." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Before An Jing left, Metalhand had given him a tablet with a map detailing the route from the disposal facility to the city's entry point. The tablet conveniently marked his current position as well as the route he had to follow.

Initially, An Jing was worried that Metalhand would be able to track him through the device, so he didn't turn it on at all. He even asked Yvelbane to check if power still flowed in the tablet when it was turned off as a precaution.

He turned it on and saw a red dot and a pathway show up amidst many colorful markers that denoted the buildings around Mortality Plains. "It's not that far."

Mortality Plains was intended to be a buffer zone between Deepnight City and the badlands. Considering the fact that the city had to dispose of its trash somewhere, the disposal facility couldn't be located that far away. It was a short distance of a hundred li that could be quickly traversed.

Metalhand had warned him earlier that even with his city pass, he would have to be checked at the entry point and officially registered before he would be allowed entry, which would leave a file with his name and information on record. It wasn't anything the locals cared about since most people already had spirit profiles made when they started cultivating, either in Deepnight City or other spirit-vein cities.

The only exception to that were people who were born in the badlands, and even they didn't really care about leaving behind a file that could be traced. Life in cities was good and they would be able to buy many good supplies for their tribes. It wasn't that being registered would cause them any direct harm.