Destiny in Cinders

"If the Grandnight Sect is really controlling the heavenly fiends and making use of the True Fiend Cult to control the situation..." That notion felt off to An Jing. Were that really the case, Ming Guangchen and An Jing mere presence would've disrupted the Grandnight Sect's plans completely. His master was the very person the Grandnight Sect had an eye out against.

At the end of the day, An Jing's guesses were unsubstantiated. If not for Madam Huai's passing and her taking residence within the dragonjade, he wouldn't have been able to theorize even that much. He made a mental note to tell his master about it once he returned.

As for the Minor Yang Sword Art, it was meant to be paired with Ocular Blaze. "Minor yang is the aspect of thriving and prosperity. Its number is seven, its logic is wood, its capability is growth, its direction is east, its nature is benevolent."

The Minor Yang Sword Art wasn't a true yang-aspect technique. Instead, it was a Fortification Realm technique meant to concentrate the qi essence within the body to refine it into pure vital qi, which could then be converted into spirit and lethal qi of different aspects. Through that, one would be able to manifest Ocular Blaze.

"Brightmirror Heart requires incredibly fine control. In theory, this should be the second-last wonder to manifest, right before the soul wonder," Ming Guangchen instructed. "Even with your talent, it's better if you manifest Ocular Blaze or other related wonders first to have a stable base of support. If you don't want to manifest Ocular Blaze, the Minor Yang Sword Art can still help you maintain qi essence without affecting your future progress negatively. You'll be able to convert it at any time.

"That aside, it is a powerful combat technique in its own right that excels at defense. The sword qi it generates isn't that destructive in itself, but if you pair it with your blood lethal qi, it would even hurt my younger self!"

"Thank you, Master!" An Jing was overjoyed at being taught a new technique, an impressive one on the level of True Nature Ego Fist. He spent days and nights studying it and eventually grasped it, applying it in daily tasks such as when he used a knife during cooking. He even used the qi generated by the technique during Madam Huai's funeral to make her body look even more pleasant.

"There's no need to go through all this trouble," Madam Huai said, though she was quite happy about it. Who wouldn't want their body to look at peace during the funeral? "Still, thank you!"

Once the burial itself ended, An Jing no longer needed to be there to take care of the rest of the ceremony. The people Madam Huai had helped during her life were more than capable of that.

An Jing went to look for You Ruhui and saw that she was cultivating based on the plan he had drafted for her. She was quietly practicing her moves in the courtyard. When An Jing arrived, You Ruhui was manipulating the qi of the land, as if she was using invisible hands to knead the earth around her.

A hazy vortex of qi surrounded her, forming bright traces of yellow patterns that depicted mountains. This was the same kind of defensive projected qi that An Jing was still trying to master. It was filled with the power of the earth's polar magnetism. The talent of someone of the imperial bloodline was fearsome indeed.

"An Jing." She ended her demonstration and waved at him with a smile. "Is it done?"

"It's all taken care of." An Jing waved for her to continue her practice and not mind him. He sat down nearby and prepared to meditate and circulate Heaven's Child Art. "You're making good progress. It'll take at most half a month more before you'll be able to regulate your esotericist qi-circulation style to a martialist style."

"That's what happens when I'm able to focus," she said, though her joyful mood dampened quickly. "I'm really sorry for not being able to help you with the busywork. You just broke through to the Fortification Realm, so I'm sure you should be focusing on cultivation."

An Jing didn't really mind. "It's no matter. To be honest, I've never stopped cultivating for a single moment even as I attend to other tasks. During the ceremony earlier, I activated my wonder and regulated its power to speak at a rate that allows me to communicate with others. Suppressing my own power like that makes for rather good training.

"Not to mention, being out there in the city to organize things allowed me to meet many local merchants. I managed to learn the kinds of supplies that Keensight lacks. Once Ming Guangchen sends you away, I'll be able to go to Skysource to get some trading done and stock up on spirit items in Keensight. When I'm ready, I'll head to the northern frontier."

"That's good, then." You Ruhui wanted to say something else, but she dropped the notion.

An Jing sensed it, of course, and widened his eyes with curiosity. "What is it? There's no need to hold back anything between us at this point, right?"

The trust between the two of them was incredibly high thanks to the imperial blood droplet. Not to mention, they knew about each other's trump cards, the Grandvoid Pathway and the Cosmic Heart. There shouldn't be much left to hide from one another.

"I was thinking..." You Ruhui's voice softened to a whisper. "After we part ways, who knows how long it'll take before we meet again?"

"Hahaha..." An Jing didn't seem bothered by it. "Didn't Master just check something with you? You're also someone who can hear the words 'Endmost Sky.' Both of us will be going there some day. Even though I have no idea what kind of sacred grotto that place is, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for us to meet.

"Speaking of which, are you really going to take the dragonjade out of Grand Chen just like that? I have a good impression of your father, King Jing, because of you and Master. Even so, it feels like you're committing treason against the nation and trying to flee with a national treasure."

"I was worried about it at first too." You Ruhui sighed and went on to tell him Ming Guangchen's evaluation of the dragonjade and its origins.

"Oh? To think that Endmost Sky is capable of something like this..." An Jing was quite surprised to hear it. The fact that Endmost Sky was able to obtain a Cosmic Heart of their own showed that their powers were far from ordinary.

Apart from that, the two also managed to figure out the effects of the lifevessel that Madam Huai left behind. Madam Huai had named it the Soul Deposition Ring. It was a lifevessel that allowed one to gather lifearc power by helping others, true to the late old lady's nature. The lifearc power could be used for healing as well, making it a support lifevessel. Most importantly, the healing power could transfer from You Ruhui to An Jing through the imperial blood droplet! While there was a decrease in efficiency this way, being able to receive healing from a distance was nothing short of miraculous.

The following half-month was rather peaceful and uneventful. As the many tribes of Dustdawn rebuilt their homes, Keensight grew merrier and merrier.

One thing that caught An Jing by surprise was You Ruhui's culinary skills. He had thought that a young lady like her never had to step in the kitchen growing up. Yet she was able to make fine-tasting soup and congee! "And there I thought you were spoiled and pampered your whole life and incapable of anything but cultivation!"