Destiny in Cinders

"Interesting. I found a direction I can hone in on." An Jing smiled. As the supply of terrestrial-vein qi didn't seem to wane at all, the divine armament could constantly be strengthened. However, the spirit qi and metal qi of the weapons he came across were limited. Using it to temper his qi armament consumed that essence. In other words, it was as if An Jing had used Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal to create a divine armament in his body that could continuously be tempered.

"Relying on my celestial arc alone isn't enough," he thought as he looked at the Keensight Bell with awe. "I played a crucial part in learning Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal and was granted an imperial blood droplet by Xuan Mingjing. Coupled with my selfless, wantless state, I was able to observe the changes within my body with such clarity, which allowed me to better myself. I'm also lucky that the Keensight Bell is not an actual divine-armament weapon. It has a stable presence and temperament that doesn't harm me."

He could feel that the Keensight Bell was in excellent condition. It had remained at the early phase of the Void Divine Treasures Realm for a long time. After all those years of being nurtured by terrestrial veins, it could have broken through to the middle phase long ago. If the True Fiend Cult hadn't corrupted the terrestrial veins and slowed its progress, it wouldn't have taken long for it to move to the next phase.

Then again, if all that hadn't happened, the Keensight Bell would've broken through under the custody of Majesty Yang Fist Shu Zheng, which would've given him all the credit. Perhaps that was part of the Heavenly Demon Cult's plans all along.

"Well, don't mind if I do." He pressed both hands on the bell. Even though he was only at the Tide Aura Stage, the purity of his Evenstar lethal qi was something that common Fortification Realm martialists couldn't possibly rival. In addition, he had seen through the terrestrial-vein-qi pathways along the entire Keensight Bell. All he had to do was to apply some of his own energy on the pathways to excite the bell enough to push it out of its stable state so that it could rise above the threshold it had already reached long ago.

The bell started to ring loudly. An Jing felt pushed away by a gentle wave of terrestrial-vein qi. Then, the bell began to expand. He didn't seem to mind it and laughed. "I knew it! Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal's principles are identical! I've gained a thorough grasp of how the terrestrial veins temper divine armaments!"

The loud ringing of the Keensight Bell could be heard across the entire city as the bell's golden projection manifested in the sky. Bountiful terrestrial-vein qi flooded in from all directions into the gigantic vortex up in the sky, constantly revolving. The Keensight Bell drew on the endless supply of terrestrial-vein qi, causing the patterns all across it to glow. The whole bell glowed as brightly as the sun itself!

"The Keensight Bell... is undergoing a divine-armament breakthrough?!" Zheng Mo pulled himself up by holding onto An Jing, completely flabbergasted. He was barely able to stand without An Jing's support. The chubby city manager's belly rippled from the powerful forces in the surroundings. "The divine armament broke through under my watch?! During my term?! Oh Olden Heavenly Father above! Did someone open your eyes to my struggles? Is this your way of rewarding my dutiful service?"

"Ahem..." An Jing cleared his throat audibly.

Zheng Mo snapped out of it and turned to the young martialist with such an intense glare as if he had gone mad. "Hero!"

Zheng Mo didn't hesitate and immediately knelt before An Jing. "You are my lucky star! No, Keensight's lucky star!"

***

Meanwhile at the outskirts of Keensight, Ming Guangchen let out a loud yelp. "What?! You gave your imperial blood and a thread of dragonjade essence to that brat?!"

"Yeah," Xuan Mingjing answered honestly. "Uncle Ming, that's how much potential I believe An Jing has. He is worth all that I entrusted to him."

"To think that you would entrust him with something so karmically significant!" Ming Guangchen almost lost his breath entirely, yet who could he blame for this but himself for taking too long to locate Xuan Mingjing? Either way, it was a headache in the making. "Putting aside how this affects you personally, this kind of karma is something that even divine-arc bearers struggle to endure!"

And Ming Guangchen had wanted to guide An Jing to Endmost Sky in the future too to add some new blood to his camp.

"I trust An Jing," Xuan Mingjing said resolutely, believing that crossing the void was one of his abilities. "He is more talented than any of my elder brothers and sisters! Father often told me to not underestimate the common masses just because I have imperial blood, but I only came to understand what that truly meant after meeting An Jing!"

"Even so, it still sounds like you've gone overboard..." There was nothing Ming Guangchen could say about it at this point. All he could do was lament. "Of course you would see him in a much better light, considering that you two worked together..."

Ming Guangchen was a top-tier genius himself, so he had his doubts about Xuan Mingjing's attitude. It was at that moment that the ringing of the bell could be heard coming from the city.

"A divine-armament breakthrough?!" Both of them were familiar with this phenomenon. They turned to look at the metal-yang projection of the Keensight Bell. "What in the..."

The Keensight Bell's ringing caused waves to ripple across the terrestrial veins. Even though tiny tremors could be felt in all directions, it didn't cause anyone to panic. Instead, everyone felt a warm, gentle energy of stability wash over them.

These were undoubtedly the signs of a divine-armament breakthrough! Everyone, whether indoors or outdoors, had their mouths hang open as they turned to look at the massive bell in the sky that devoured terrestrial-vein qi, causing its patterns to glow brighter than ever before. The phenomenon lasted a whole fifteen minutes before fading away.

Then, the Keensight Bell returned to the terrestrial veins. It would still need to sustain the process a bit longer to complete the breakthrough, but the most difficult bottleneck had been overcome. All that was left was steady progress. Everyone looked away from the sky when it ended, completely at a loss for words as if they had forgotten how to speak at all.

"Could this be... An Jing?" Even Ming Guangchen seemed to have lost it. He had personally delivered An Jing to observe the divine armament to gain some insight from it. Was it really a coincidence that the divine armament broke through at the same time? No, that was impossible. Ming Guangchen's experience told him that this was the unlikeliest possibility. The Keensight Bell must have broken through because of An Jing's actions!

"Impressive..." He calmed down and looked at Keensight again and then to Xuan Mingjing, who was alarmed but not particularly surprised. After pondering for a moment, he smiled. "Perhaps you did the right thing after all, Mingjing."

Brother Guangyun, I think it's about time we put our trust in the choices that the young ones make.

During the first year of the Yanping Era, the snow and fiend calamities befell the city of Keensight. Fortunately, two sages of the Treasures Realm and other heroes were there to protect the city and save it from its plight. On the day the snow and frost began to melt, the Keensight Bell's ringing could be heard from tens of thousands of li away. This was surely a sign that Grand Chen still bore the favor of heaven.