Destiny in Cinders

The situation became clear to An Jing. As the elite fighters of the Dustdawn Sects and Grand Chen were standing off against each other, nobody could spare reinforcements to help Ming Guangchen out. Conversely, it also meant that the sages that ambushed him didn't have additional help either, though Ming Guangchen was the one that really needed it to get out of the disadvantageous situation.

The worst part of all this was that Grand Chen's grievances were entirely legitimate. After all, the ones that sent You Ruhui away were Ming Guangchen and his disciple, An Jing, core members of one of the Dustdawn Sects.

Fortunately, You Ruhui was far away on the central continent, so there was no way for Grand Chen to prove that the Dustdawn Sects were involved. So, it was more than likely that the standoff between both sides would end without any resolution. This was part of Ming Guangchen's own karma.

But as long as tensions were high between the Dustdawn Sects and Grand Chen, the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects that had already engaged in a proxy war with Grand Chen using the barbarians at the northern frontier also hoped that the Brightmirror and Flowlight Sects would fight Grand Chen's forces in Xishan. They also wanted to sway the fence-sitting Grandnight Sect to join their five-sect alliance once more.

Not only would this take the pressure off their own forces, it also prevented the other three Dustdawn Sects that were yet to be involved in the war from amassing their forces. This way, the Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects wouldn't risk losing too much to the war and end up getting dominated by the remaining three. Something like this was far from unprecedented; during the era of the Hallowed Grand Court, there used to be seven sects in Dustdawn, two more than the current era.

"Based on the current situation, it's clear that someone wants to chip away at the Brightmirror Sect's power. I'd even venture that the other four sects, led by the Grandnight Sect, are behind this." Ming Guangchen raised his hand and pulled out a map of light as he sighed.

"The Grandnight Sect is located in the middle of Dustdawn. Seated Mirage and Poolsea's territories lie right behind that of the northern barbarians. Flowlight and Brightmirror's, on the other hand, are located behind the area occupied by the Hundred Tribes of Dustdawn.

"Grand Chen's expansionary efforts during the past few centuries had pushed the northern barbarians back, squeezing them tighter and tighter, depriving them of living space. That's how the North Han Circuit was established. The counteroffensives from the northern barbarians are considered fair as a matter of inter-sect competition. It is merely a tit for that. If the troops that the imperial court stationed at the northern frontier don't reclaim their lost territory, the northern barbarians would be able to take their homes back.

"The situation in Xishan is different. There aren't many strongholds here compared to the northern frontier. Xishan's major pass is the only thing that can rival the northern frontier's Greenjade Pass. On the flip side, Xishan's terrain is made primarily out of mountain ranges, not to mention having a dense concentration of terrestrial veins. The cities are built closely together to form a powerful mutual-support network.

"Invading Xishan would prove far more challenging than invading the northern frontier, so a proxy war wouldn't cut it. They would need to put some real forces on the ground and spill proper blood to be able to drain the enemy of theirs. Even more crucially, Xishan has always been a natural barrier since ancient times. If the Dustdawn Sects want to invade this region, they need a legitimate pretext."

"So they're trying to make us into one," An Jing concluded before Ming Guangchen spelled it out.

His master praised him approvingly. "Very good. You have a clear view on things indeed. The Brightmirror and Flowlight Sects are on relatively good terms with Grand Chen, so there's no reason for them to take action at all. The easiest and most direct way to get us involved is to create enmity between us and Grand Chen.

"I'm quite certain that Seated Mirage, Poolsea and an offshoot from the demonic cult will blame my death on Grand Chen since it will have happened within their territory. It's not a stretch to pin this on the officials of the empire. On the flipside, Grand Chen also has war-hawk martial-officials who don't actually care who killed the martial-official from Skybless. They'll pin it on the Dustdawn Sects. In fact, if I'm dead, I'd be the perfect scapegoat."

Ming Guangthen turned around to look at the entire city of Keensight. "In fact, everyone in this city will be sacrificed to war. They were more than willing to sacrifice these people during their search for Ruhui, so there's no reason for them to hold back now. If they all die, Grand Chen would have a reason to invade the territory of the Hundred Tribes.

"While those lands are somewhat barren, with many tribes wanting to be ruled by Grand Chen anyway, it doesn't matter to the local officials who render merit by expanding the empire's territory. What comes later, such as integrating the local population into the empire, would be something future generations of officials have to worry about."

"Sacrifices? Sheesh, they treat human lives like they're nothing," An Jing said with a cold smirk. "If there's one thing these animals are good at, it's convincing themselves that their lies are the truth. I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

An Jing began to understand why there were two factions within the demonic cult. "The Lord Inspector of the West's goals are simple too. As long as the Dustdawn Sects go to war with Grand Chen, it would create lots of opportunities and loopholes for the cult to take advantage of. The Lord Inspector of the West wouldn't just be able to get revenge on you, he'd also gain free reign to corrupt Xishan.

"As for the Lord Inspector of the North, she prefers infiltrating Grand Chen subtly and building up their might this way. So, her faction's interests are aligned with Grand Chen's interests. That's why she's turning against the Lord Inspector of the West and wants to work with us to kill him!"

An Jing was able to put the rest of the puzzle together with the pieces Ming Guangchen had given him. The Seated Mirage and Poolsea Sects were able to act so brazenly because they had joined hands with the Lord Inspector of the West. Even if their plans go awry, they could just claim that they were trying to kill demonic cultists who had infiltrated Grand Chen. The empire would probably even thank them for being so kind as to take the initiative to do so.

Whether it was the damage Keensight would suffer or the deaths of Ming Guangchen and An Jing, they could pin it entirely on the demonic cult. The cult itself also benefited from this arrangement as their goals would be advanced either way, while the other sects got to shove the weight of their moral choices onto the cult, not that they cared. This was likely why the other sects tolerated the Heavenly Demon Cult despite their hate for them.

There was only one question that remained: How did these people pin Ming Guangchen down? To reframe it, why did the mysterious Endmost Walker choose to take action against Ming Guangchen? That was the crutch of the whole issue, yet they didn't have a single clue about the answer.

"The longer that karmic causes and effects build up, the bigger the incidents that develop." An Jing had enjoyed two months of stable growth. While the results were quite satisfactory, it also came with the unintended consequence of many things going wrong at once. He could already feel the incoming tidal wave of karma sweeping toward him, having been formed from the currents that resulted from his and his master's choices.

Had An Jing not spent time resting up at Keensight and immediately traveled through Dustdawn and circled around to North Han, things might have not spiraled so far out of control even if he would have missed out on many fortuitous encounters. It wouldn't be a certainty, but there was a possibility. Ming Guangchen wouldn't have remained in Keensight for long whether he found You Ruhui or not if An Jing wasn't in the picture, so his actions wouldn't be as restricted or predictable. It was far less likely for him to fall into the enemy's trap.

Their current predicament had resulted from their karmic relation with one another. But if they were given a chance to redo their choice, they would've done the same thing. An Jing would still take Ming Guangchen as his master, and the latter wouldn't regret taking him as a disciple either. It was simply part of their nature.

At that moment, the Keensight Bell rang audibly in the distance. Everyone in the city panicked for a moment, but soon calmed down and began to pack some essential luggage before evacuating the city in an orderly manner with military-like efficiency.

Every household in the city had undergone evacuation drills, as was typical of citizens that lived at the northern frontier, so they merely did what they rehearsed. It didn't matter whether the threat they faced were feys, heavenly fiends, invading armies or marauding martialists. If the city was gone, they could simply rebuild it. But if they died in the aftermath of those incidents, their lives would have truly been meaningless.

The settlements and cities in Grand Chen were built based on formation diagrams. Core cities would be located at the center of the formation, surrounded by satellite towns and villages that supported the rest of the formation, which could all afford to take in a bit more people should an evacuation occur.

Dark clouds gathered above the distant mountains. The spring thunderclouds that should've heralded the renewal of vitality had become a depressing omen of death and destruction, expanding their reach toward Keensight like the wide-open maw of a voracious beast. Massive rainfall interspersed with lightning and thunder was just about to arrive, yet there wasn't the slightest gust of wind in the quiet city.

"The divine bell has rung. Keensight has become a battlefield." Ming Guangchen looked at the ghost city with his disciple and the incoming thunderclouds. "The rainy windstorm is coming. An Jing, are you afraid?"

The boy held his maces tight without answering that question. He merely took a deep breath, eyes closed, and said, "The smell of gore is fragrant indeed."

An Jing opened his eyes as his voice changed from calm to vicious. "The weather today is beautiful indeed. Strong winds, heavy rain and incessant lightning will fall from the cloudy skies while blood continues to be spilled at the frontier as the troops march on with their weapons. Neither the sun nor moon shines through onto the landscape painted with blood and Evenstar lethal qi. Master, doesn't it look like the heavens are rooting for us? It looks like we'd be able to kill a few more vile scum this time around."

"Hahaha! Well said!" Ming Guangchen was stunned at first before he broke into laughter. "I just so happen to be at the brink of a breakthrough. These foolish clowns would make the perfect sacrifice for the Sanctification of my Altar!"

Ming Guangchen raised his hand, turning his Mirror Me arcane corpus into a stream of light that entered An Jing's head through the center of his brow.