Chapter 38: Child of Destiny
Reality.
“How could there be a dual phenomenon?”
At the very moment An Jing wielded his sword in the mental world of the ceremony, slig apart his Inner Heart Demon, the Medie Manor Lazed at the Heaven-Ordained Fate phenomenon maing above An Jing’s head with a look of mingled surprise and doubt.
Among the Seven Fates—Evil (恶), Eerie (异), Mixed (杂), Fual (本), Strange (奇), Divine (神), aial (天)—the Evil and Eerie Fates typically harmed the awakened individual or, at least, distorted their nature ainy. Examples included “Heavenly Camity Loar” and “Ten Evils Ruin All.” Such Heaven-Ordained Fates were not necessarily weak in power, but they served no meaningful purpose: one would doom the bearer to solitude; the other would twist them into a wretched demon.
Mixed Fates, oher hand, enpassed myriad things under heaven. For instance, “Close-to-Fme Fate” or “Divine Bcksmith Fate” meant one had an affinity for fire and excelled at its use, or possessed an ialent for f, and so on. Another example was “Giant Spirit Fate,” which gras bearer a t physique and great natural strength. Of course, some of these Heaven-Ordained Fates were dht bizarre.
Such Fates made a person different, but not so much that they transded mortal bounds; they mingled with the mundane. One could even say that anyone dedicated to a particur craft or calling might faintly awaken such a Fate at some stage in life. Hehey were called “Mixed Fates.”
When these Fates were activated, they typically produced a halo phenomenon—a wheel of light in a distinctive hue maing behind the awakened person’s head.
Fual Fates were even more potent, for they drew on personal essence, unmatched and uhus they were called “Fual (本).” Those who bore them could awaken a 【Divine Ability】, whiabled them to develop various special arts and skills. Fully activating it caused a corresponding totem particur to each Fual Fate to appear behind the bearer’s head.
As for Straes, their “strangeness” y in the meaning of “great” and “ultimate.” Celestial Fate was granted by the will of Heaven, Divie could unless one was the reination of an immortal or deity—thus Strae remaihe rarest and mightiest Fate in the mortal realm. When activated, it not only revealed a totem but also maed various phenomena, just like Bai Qinghan’s “Clear Frost Moonlight” and An Jing’s “Scarlet Death Bde Formation.”
Bai Qinghan’s phenomenon was easy to interpret—a most orthodox Dark Yin maion. But An Jing’s phenomenon was far too plex, defying simple definition.
So far, it had shown signs of Red Star Guarding the Heart and a blood-fiend aspect like a river of age, yet also an aspect of “Taibai Dev Mao*,” able to link with Geal Baleful Qi in sword i.
A blood sword being a formation, crimson fire gealing into metal, a furnace rekindling, iron embers scattering… Red Star oside, Taibai within.
Just as one person could not possess two separate Fates, how could one person harbor two stars?
Unless…he was Divine.
Uhis was a 【Divie】!
Unless An Jing truly was a celestial star desding into mortal form, an immortal deity reborn!
Or perhaps An Jing carried on his person a 【Supreme Treasure】 that suppressed fate and bore its own Heaven-Ordained Fate!
“We’ve really hit the jackpot… He might be the very Child of Destiny the Frost Camity was desigo create, a remnant from that a battle between the Divine Court and the Heavenly Demons… I… hahaha!”
Regardless of which possibility, all caused the Medie Manor Lord’s hands to start trembling with an untrolble greed and longing. He fixated on the crimson starlight behind An Jing, letting out a slightly manic ugh. All of a sudden, he caught himself, reining in that ugh and speaking with an almost unnervingly cool tone:
“Li Xiang, prepare the 【God-Binding Rope】. Zhao Xinruo, hurry back to the manor and use the 【Secret Talisman】 to inform the Northern Patron Envoy at ohere’s an ued harvest far beyond our imagination!”
Like a mae, the Medie Manor Lord tinued issuing ands, having already activated the Imperial Heaven Arts to transform himself into a being of calm rationality, f down every shred of greed and lust. His voice remained dispassionate:
“No… report directly to the main stronghold!”
“We of the Northwestern branch of Hanging Fate Manor ot bear the weight of such karma!”
Yet as the Medie Manor Lord’s cold gaze shifted downward, he suddenly met a pair of eyes.
A pair of eyes that had already opened, eyes as calm as ice, their chill brimming with indifferearing right back at him.
In that instant—a collision of cool indifference—he found his posure failing. Momentarily stunned, he dropped out of his Imperial Heaven Arts state. “Impossible?!”
“An Jing… y-you’re awake?!”
“I’ve been awake this eime.”
An Jing’s soft reply apanied his rising to his feet, sword clutched firmly in his hand.
Behind him, the other young men and women on the surrounding altars were also awakening oer another, eyes snapping open.
“How could this be?!”
Seeing those tless pairs of eyes shifting toward him, the Medie Manor Lord could not help gaping in shock. He struggled to speak. The ritual was not fihe cycle of godly and demonic power had not pleted. By all rights, every one of these children should still have been trapped ial flict with their Inner Heart Demons—how could they be awake?!
Even if someone did awaken early, at most it would be geniuses like An Jing and Bai Qinghan who had that ability!
It went further than that, for something in Hanging Fate Valley seemed to have stirred up the Heavenly Demon’s gigantid. It abruptly gave up on the “sacrifices” in the formation and tried to retreat to the depths of the valley—but it was caught by the array. Oer another, illusory s coiled around it; even with bck demon fog roiling everywhere, obsg the boundary between light and dark, it still could not free itself.
For a split sed, the entire white sand ceremonial site fell quiet. Those demonic sestructors who had been spilling fresh blood to sustain the array stared bnkly at the sight before them, half vihey must be dreaming.
The Imperial Heaven Star Fiend Grand Rite still rahe Heavenly Demon’s hand had been wounded and seemed to be withdrawing into the valley, and the youths—who should still have been locked in their dream battle against demonic thoughts—were all fully scious, standing tall with ons in hand. Their eyes were plex but filled with hostility as they looked upon the instructors.
And at the forefront was the leader of these “trial sacrifices,” the newly awakened Heaven-Ordained Fate bearer, An Jing…
He stood faintly at the ter of the formation, maniputing the power of the ritual array—turning it against them!
How could such a thing happen?!
“An Jing, what’s gotten into you?”
Shouting across the dista An Jing, the Medie Manor Lord’s thoughts whirled the instant he saw the look in An Jing’s eyes. In that moment, he realized exactly where An Jing now stood.
Even as he swiftly formed a spell-sign with his fingers, he tried to sound calm: “You’re uhe Heavenly Demon’s influence—clear your head…”
“Pay homage to Imperial Heaven, O revered gods, ma Heavenly Fate, subdue all souls!”
Halfway through his words, the old man abruptly roared. The jade dagger sshed open his wrist, and the spattering blood densed in midair under his spell sign into a dark talisman. Layer upon yer of ripples spread outward toward the formation as he decisively tried to seize trol and cow An Jing’s spirit.
But when the and was unleashed, the ripples vanished like stones dropped into the sea. The Medie Manor Lord’s heart sank at once.
——Trouble! The ritual is pletely out of trol!
Right at that moment, An Jing did not hesitate. He bit opeip of his left thumb, forced out a burst of energy to scatter fresh blood, and likewise formed a and seal. “Pay homage to Imperial Heaven, O revered gods, ma Heavenly Fate, pel ghosts and spirits to do my bidding!”
In an instant, streams of icy starlight turned into s that shot toward the giant demonid. It had been trying to withdraw but was now run through by those s, dragged back, and then shattered by a pierg sword-like glow—leaving only a mass of bck mist.
That bck mist ed and swirled, swiftly taking the shape of a massive, t demon-god phantom with two heads and six arms, rising up out of emptiness.
Though only an apparition, it was anything but illusory. Three stories tall, the demon-god stepped onto the ground.
Stone cracked and gravel parted. It lifted its head, all six of its crimsowo pairs of normal eyes plus a pair of “heavenly eyes”—burning with blood-hued brilliahen it fixed its icy gaze on the speechless demonic sestructors.
(End of Chapter)
*“Taibai Dev Mao” is a refereo Venus eclipsing/‘dev’ the star cluster 昴 (Mǎo).
