Destiny in Cinders

Nian Quan's cultivation had been proceeding swimmingly. He was seated in the room of the principal of Third Middle School, He Yongzhi.

"Tell me," Principal He said calmly as he read through the file. "How do you plan to reimburse Hong Li for his losses?"

"I will not reimburse him," Nian Quan said fearlessly with an air of nonchalance. "We engaged in a fair free-sparring session under the supervision of teachers in an arena officially sanctioned by Deepnight City. Hong Li was the one who initiated a lethal strike against me. All I did was respond in kind in self-defense. Not to mention, he only got a clean cut to the arms, nothing but a light wound for the school infirmary to treat."

"Well said. However, wounds caused by sword intent aren't that easy to heal. They do take quite a bit of effort," the principal said with a nod. "It seems like you're smarter than I expected. Idle threats like these don't work on you. But I'm sure someone as smart as you has considered what will happen if Hong Li mobilizes his clan's resources for payback."

"Perhaps. I'm torn between whether he'd be chewed out by his elders and made to redeem his honor on his own or whether his elders would sympathize with him and let him use their resources to deal with me," Nian Quan said, shaking his head. "If it's the latter case, there's nothing I can do about it but endure. That's nothing new to me, however. I'm only an orphan with dead parents. He would've been able to do whatever he wanted with me regardless of the duel's outcome."

"Oh... You've given it quite a bit of thought, then. Then, why did you insist on taking first place? I'm sure you were already aware of Hong Li's character."

"I do it because I can," Nian Quan said, meeting the principal's gaze directly. "Principal, just let me know if there's anything I should do. I'm sure that wasn't the only reason you called me here."

The principal nodded slightly. "Indeed. I have underestimated how mature you are. I know that you intentionally did all that to make Hong Li your stepping stone. Now, about sword intent..."

The old, hawk-eyed man rose and took out a waterscreen, flipping through the files displayed on it. "Since Third Middle School's formation, around 157 people have managed to comprehend and use sword intent. That sounds like quite a bit, doesn't it? That's because the statistic doesn't take into account the fact that most of these 157 people across centuries only developed sword intent after they left school. In other words, we can't claim any credit for it. There have only been five students who developed sword intent during their time in school, at least until you came along. You're the sixth."

He switched the waterscreen off and turned back to Nian Quan, eyes shimmering. "Where did you learn your sword art from?"

"It came from within," Nian Quan said without hesitation even as the silhouette of a particular person flashed across his mind. "I learned it through dao comprehension."

Principal He's brow furrowed for the slightest moment before it relaxed, failing to notice any inconsistencies in the story. It was true that someone who lived in the lower sectors all his life whose parents were not present most of the time until their untimely deaths wouldn't be able to obtain any decent cultivation techniques, whether they had celestial spirit roots or not.

Dao comprehension, however, was a different story. Bearers of celestial spirit roots who comprehended dao and those that hadn't were in completely different leagues. The former stood a chance to reach the Purple Mansion Realm while the latter typically only reached the Foundation Realm, and that was if they were given proper resources.

"Good... Very good." The principal made a swift decision. "I will suppress the matter of Hong Li for you. Injuries are expected during the martial evaluations of the school, after all. The Hong clan wouldn't disrupt the peace of Deepnight City over a petty squabble."

Principal He pushed the waterscreen to him. "But you, Nian Quan, have to sign this contract. Don't worry, it's not a contract to sell yourself. All we need is for a swordsmanship genius like you to do some promotional work for Third Middle School."

Nian Quan flipped through the contract on the waterscreen. As the principal had said, it was a common promotional contract. Nian Quan would be required to maintain his top grades and participate in a few swordsmanship tournaments to promote the school. If he ranked high in those tournaments, he would be given scholarship money. The higher he ranked, the more he got. The school would also fund his cultivation needs, which was what made this a non-exploitative service contract.

Apart from that, if he qualified for the dao academies, he would be restricted to attend Grand Illumination Academy only. Nian Quan furrowed his brow; he knew that the four dao academies were each affiliated with a megacorporation. Xuandu Academy and Qian Source Academy were affiliated with Xuandu and Shouyang, while Grand Illumination Academy and Skysoul Academy were associated with Luofu and Lianshan.

Only being allowed to pick the Grand Illumination Academy meant that he would be forced to side with the Luofu Group, the very same megacorporation that was behind the destruction of the black market and his mother's death. He smiled brightly and signed his name. "Just what I needed."

Principal He seemed quite glad with his choice. "Very good. Our school finally has a promising candidate for a dao academy, possibly one that's recruited without the need for entry examinations."

The vortex of destiny swirled intensely, crossing both worlds. Right as Nian Quan signed his contract and embarked on his new path, a storm brewed in the world of Void Embrace at Profound Yin Peak, Heavenly Will Mountain. The glistening rain that fell from the heavens pelted down on the peaks before following the streams to the waterfall and falling off the mountain. The rumbling water sounded like rising and falling chants, surfacing and vanishing into nothing along with the moonlit droplets of rain. Bai Qinghan sat at the very center of the altar as her head of black hair gradually turned white.

Meanwhile, at the northern frontier of Grand Chen, the mandated old general had thousands of weapons floating behind him, executing myriads of different dance-like moves as if he had thousands of hands to manipulate them. In front of him was Gu Yeqi with her teeth gritted and her blade raised. Two swords and two shields hovered beside her in a slanted manner. She was trying hard to surpass herself by defending against the barrage of attacks from the old man.

Switching again to the battlefield where conflict arose against the northern barbarians, Cang Linzu used his newly mastered lifearc ability and creeped stealthily in the shadows, seemingly phasing through earth, stones, grass and trees, scouting the enemy ranks. He avoided arrows and spells, returning from deadly circumstances time and again, yet he laughed heartily as he progressed on the martial path.

Far away at the central continent right in the middle of the Celestial Ocean and far above the ancient and majestic peaks that extended past the thunder clouds above was a dragon that overlooked everything. The dragon resembled four majestic lightning suns in the sky, observing his little daughter and the karmic bundle she brought back with great interest. You Ruhui met the dragon's gaze without any hint of fear in her eyes.

The source of all these threads of fate, An Jing, was far away at Skysource, setting up a netshop with Huo Qing by borrowing Metalhand's connections and mailing parcels away. He prioritized both cultivating and making money, not neglecting either one.

"Things have been quite calm lately," An Jing said, amazed by the completed-transaction notifications that popped up on the waterscreen again and again. "I'm starting to feel like my celestial arc has calmed down considerably. It feels great to be able to focus on cultivation."

"This might be a sign of conflicting fates. The calm you find yourself in implies that major events are happening elsewhere," Yvelbane said, offering a different opinion. "Or, it could just be a result of the considerable number of people you've saved."

"Huh? Saving people comes with such benefits too? Then why did previous bearers of Seven Ruins Tribulation bother to kill people?"

Yvelbane had a guess about it. "Previous bearers probably killed to obtain lots of fate power in one go by severing the fates and futures of others. This sparks a huge flame that needs to continuously be fed with even more killings. If the flame dies out, the bearers might experience some kind of backlash. But saving others is akin to building up a stream slowly and steadily, droplets of water at a time."

"Well, I did save everyone in Keensight, after all. Yet, all I got was a single instance of dao comprehension. If we're using your logic, shouldn't the unlikely survival of a whole city of people come back to benefit me massively?" An Jing wondered.

"It might not be that simple. The people of Keensight had been fated to live out their lives normally in the first place. It was the arrival of that princess of imperial blood that twisted their fates and doomed them. You experienced the feedback of fate when you changed the fates of the princess and the people of Keensight.

"However, the continued livelihood of the people of Keensight was something that was 'expected' in the first place, so you wouldn't be getting much from it. They did survive as a result of your actions, but they're not involved in any greater movement that began as a result of your actions, so the feedback you get is much more limited.

"In simpler terms, if the people you saved go on to live lives they would've lived anyway, there wouldn't be much feedback. But if their lives are changed completely and they embark on completely different paths, such as if you manage to make mortals cultivate, bandits turn over a new leaf to do good things, rich people donate to help the poor or beggars end up filthy rich, that will count!"

"That standard sounds really subjective if you ask me," An Jing said, looking up at the warehouse ceiling as if he was looking at the sky beyond it.

"Matters of the Heavenly Dao are always subjective," Yvelbane said. "It all boils down to the workings of fate. Heavenly blessings and dao-comprehension states come from the Heavenly Dao itself. Heavenly will is something that nobody can truly understand. That is the purview of divine beings, not mortals. Just be thankful for the temporary peace you're enjoying. Use it well to strengthen us while you can."

"That's true." An Jing was all too happy to not have to be on the run. Things progressed quickly as long as he had the resources to cultivate in peace. However, he didn't let down his guard. "This is all the calm before the storm. I have to be prepared when the storm finally arrives."

These peaceful days quickly passed him by.