Destiny in Cinders

The Keensight Bell hovered above the light-gold terrestrial-vein qi and revolved slowly in a cycle of constant expansion and contraction. Divine armaments could change volume and mass freely. The Keensight Bell's arcane manifestation, for instance, could also cover an entire city to protect it. It could also change into a tiny wind chime that could be worn at the side of one's attire, giving off spirit-clearing jingles.

An Jing stepped forward, protected by the terrestrial-vein talisman. The pressure coming from the divine armament felt like a gentle breeze to his face. He mustered all the energy in his body and touched the bell, sensing the rhythmic ripples that it gave off.

The instant he touched the bell, concentric ripples formed at the spot where he touched it. The bell rang loudly and brightly, stimulating the terrestrial veins in the vicinity. Patterns of light swayed and turned. The bell's ringing could be vaguely heard out in the real world as well. Countless people in Keensight looked around in mild confusion, wondering where the sound of the bell came from.

Zheng Mo, on the other hand, was frozen on the spot. Initially, he had wanted to remind An Jing to take it slow while observing the divine armament. Typically, talented people who were lucky enough to get an opportunity like that were given ten days' time. Jing Xuan could have started with sensing the ripples of the divine armament and the flow of the terrestrial veins for insight. Touching the divine armament directly could result in some blowback from the terrestrial veins, which could be harmful.

Yet, Zheng Mo never would've expected An Jing to go straight to touching it right away! Oh no! What if Sage Mystic Mirror blames me if his disciple gets hurt?! He immediately perked up alertly. Even though he was an official of Grand Chen, backed by the power of its administration, the Brightmirror Sect was a strategic partner of the empire and a long-time ally from Dustdawn. The empire might not kill Zheng Mo outright, but they could well punish him harshly for allowing the disciple of a valued ally to come to harm!

But then, what in the world was unfolding?

"He resonated with the divine armament?! Right away?! But why?! Even Old Shu wasn't able to do this!" Zheng Mo exclaimed incredulously. Majesty Yang Fist Shu Zheng was a Clearing Realm adept who had been able to achieve more than eighty percent resonance with the Keensight Bell, which put him high above most other adepts.

He had also been able to make the bell ring, but that only became possible after he wielded the divine armament in combat for a long time. The last time he managed to do it was during a feral-wraith invasion from the western wilderness of Keensight, a struggle that had lasted three days and nights! Yet, An Jing was able to make the divine armament cheer and rejoice with a single touch!

"Is this what someone capable of comprehending dao by mere observation is like?"

While Zheng Mo was lost in his shock, An Jing was well aware how he managed to gain the divine armament's recognition right away. The imperial blood droplet within his sea of consciousness trembled slightly. "The privileges that the imperial court of Grand Chen gave themselves are far too extensive. Leaking the slightest trace of it was enough to completely unlock all restrictions..."

An Jing sensed that the imperial blood droplet's reverberations immediately disciplined the divine armament, as if it had turned a rowdy and misbehaving dog to a cute little puppy that obediently let itself be pat. Naturally, that didn't mean An Jing could get the divine armament to do anything he wanted. It was only willing to obey him because it perceived the familiar presence of its owners and saw him as a friend. Should it feel that something was off in the slightest, it would instantly snap and turn against him!

"I have to be careful not to expose too much!" An Jing took a deep breath and got even closer to the divine armament, letting his senses expand as much as he could. He perceived every minute detail at the highest resolution possible as he observed the flows of the terrestrial-vein qi and dragon qi between the divine armament and the major formation.

As he experienced those fine details, he began to regulate the flow of Evenstar lethal qi in his body. He attempted to circulate the lethal qi around the core that was the qi weapon he had absorbed into his body to mimic the flow of dragon qi and the operation of the major terrestrial-vein formation.

Had An Jing not helped You Ruhui, he wouldn't have been granted a droplet of her imperial blood. Without it, there was no way he would be able to gain such a detailed and close look at the flow of terrestrial veins and dragon qi even with Yvelbane's enhanced perception helping him. His deed of changing the fate of others had paid off even without taking into account the feedback from his celestial arc!

***

While An Jing was completely focused on interfacing with the divine armament, Ming Guangchen and Xuan Mingjing conversed without restraint outside Keensight at the border of Grand Chen.

"Other matters are not that important," Ming Guangchen said, brow furrowed in puzzlement. "The real question is how your father died. You should know better than anyone that he was at the Sanctification Realm!"

The realms of the martial path, in ascending order, were called Three Nourishments of Aura, Five Vistas of Fortification, Hundred Meridians Clearing, Void Divine Treasures, Altar Sanctification, and Nine Firmaments of Soaring respectively.

There were countless powerful people and sects across the ten continents of Void Embrace, yet only the Ten Heavenly Sects, 108 upper sects, eight hundred intermediate sects and three thousand skewed sects were considered proper sects. Each of the Ten Heavenly Sects became the hegemons of their respective continents, monopolizing the ancient legacies of the Dao Sect of yore.

Yet, heavenly sects weren't eternal. Ming Guangchen knew this fact well. Grand Chen, after all, was among the younger heavenly sects compared to the rest. The Hallowed Grand Court, a heavenly sect of the previous era, crumbled during a major tribulation. It was in the chaotic times that resulted from its collapse that the Grand Chen Empire rose to prominence.

Sacred Emperor Xuan Tianji achieved the power of the Soaring Realm and brought order to the north and negotiated peace with the Dragon Palace in the east, sweeping across the Northblack Sacrifice Continent. Though he seemed invincible, he would still have to defeat the two other sects of Grand Nethervoid Mountain and Truth Initiation Mountain and their champions, Empyrean Sunken Light and Empyrean Primal Form.

Grand Chen absorbed the essence of those two defeated sects before going on to fight its final battle against a similarly unstoppable rising rival to the southeast, the Lucent Light Nation. It would be a battle that set the current world order in stone. Soaring Realm empyreans alone were able to decide the future of an entire continent.

Upper sects, on the other hand, were those that tried and failed to position themselves as a heavenly sect or an ally of one of the heavenly sects. With how the lifearc martial path of Void Embrace worked, no influential sect would ever seclude themselves and hide from the limelight, for martialists only grew by changing the destinies of other living beings. These upper sects were typically founded by empyreans of the Soaring Realm and produced Pure Yang transcendents across the generations.

Intermediate sects, on the other hand, referred to those that produced venerateds of the Sanctification Realm. The three thousand skewed sects, on the other hand, often sprouted from a legacy or mantra passed down by a founder of the Sanctification Realm and regularly produced sages of the Treasures Realm, typically having a powerful defensive formation to guard their legacy. Only then were they qualified to establish a proper sect.

Those further beneath were minor factions that couldn't even be considered sects. They weren't able to scale and settle mountains to establish proper roots and were merely petals that drifted along the river of light and shadow.

Reaching Void Divine Treasures was a basic requirement to become initiated as a continental player on the stage of the Northblack Sacrifice Continent. A common saying in Grand Chen stated that when the reigning emperor was mad at his officials, he would yell for the front-row ministers of the Political Affairs Bureau to stay behind for a meeting. Being a Void Divine Treasures sage was a basic requirement to be one of the people at the front row of the bureau. Without that level of power, one wouldn't even be qualified to listen in on the meetings from the side.

The Altar Sanctification Realm was the next step after the Void Divine Treasures Realm. Venerateds of that realm were considered major figures in Grand Chen, wielding massive authority over many matters. The Eight Sentinel Kings of the empire stood out even among those venerateds. They had the blessings of the imperial bloodline and a monopoly over terrestrial veins, giving them a chance of one day reaching the Dao Palace Pure Yang Realm! How could someone of that level like King Jing possibly perish silently under mysterious circumstances?