All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 361 - 11 Encounter

Chapter 361: Chapter 11 Encounter

"The area around Broken Blade Mountain... is reverting to the wilderness."

At this moment, Xu Tai gazed at the departing herds and instead revealed a sorrowful expression, "Hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of reclamation, all destroyed in an instant."

An Jing understood what he meant.

In Embracing the Void, reclaiming the wilderness was definitely no easy task, even if the strength of martial artists far exceeded that of ordinary people, for the power of nature in Embracing the Void was also extraordinary.

Without human activity and with beasts swallowing up the land, countless Grass Spirits and Demon Spirits would emerge between the mountains and the grasslands.

As a manifestation of the pure vitality of the Embracing the Void realm, they could take root in any soil or rock, and proliferate and spread with unimaginable speed.

In just one year. Grass Spirits could transform a barren land into a dense grassland, covering all farmland, villages, and mines, completely erasing any traces of human activity.

But everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

If Earth Vein Great Formations were used to suppress and convert this wild growth energy, it could be transformed into vitality that accelerated the ripening of crops, in other words, Grass Spirits themselves are a manifestation of the chaotic Earth Pulse Qi that fosters everything; wilderness and abundant harvests are two sides of the same coin.

In such a situation, various Exotic Beasts that fed on Grass Spirits would also proliferate and grow stronger, and Ferocious Beasts, Demon Spirits, and even humans who hunted these beasts would follow, maintaining the scale of these overly verdant creatures at a balanced level.

But now, without a Divine Weapon to suppress the Great Earth Vein Formation, the crowds retreated to the cities, and the demon beasts left the mountains and plains.

It wouldn’t take too much time; just five years for all the abandoned villages and towns around Broken Blade Mountain to be engulfed by vegetation, turning completely into ruins within the wilderness.

"Think of something positive."

An Jing consoled, "At least this time we won’t have to deal with those Ferocious Beasts and Demon Spirits, we’ll just have to face the possibility of a Heavenly Demon and the Northern Barbarians."

A scar on Xu Tai’s face twitched, he wanted to say something but ended up just sighing, "Then, I guess I kind of miss those Ferocious Beasts."

With the speed of Tengshuang White, Linjiang City was not far away.

In the falling snow once again, An Jing watched the city from afar, its walls constructed of huge gray-white boulders resembling man-made mountains, with signs of farmland and roads scattered across the surrounding plains, and the frozen Yujiang River winding around it, splitting off into a fork through the center of the city.

The dark flags on top of the city fluttered in the wind, while in the center of the city, a pavilion emitting a faint golden light was spreading a visible glow of Earth Pulse Qi, maintaining the operation of the Great Earth Vein Formation.

Although they had lost the Divine Weapon to guard it, the Great Earth Vein Formation itself could be considered half of the base for a Divine Weapon, and it was still operational.

Admittedly slow, panting weakly as if it were a dying old man, but it was still alive and could maintain the order of the city.

People from all directions gathered, like ink stains spilled on the snow or water converging in a depression, slowly merging into this large city by Linjiang.

At the city gate, teams of armored warriors were inspecting those entering the city, looking more like elite private soldiers of a commerce chamber than merely guards.

"Interesting."

An Jing narrowed his eyes as the Farsight Skills of his True Spirit Eye were activated. He commented, "Entering the city is actually quite simple... it is understandable. Now with the Frost Calamity and Beast Tide, once you enter the city, you can’t leave."

He stopped his vehicle and put away Tengshuang White. An Jing thought for a moment, then took out a communicator from his Great Void Magical Instrument and handed it to Xu Tai, "This is a Magic Artifact for contacting me, you take one."

"How do I use it?"

Xu Tai saw the Armored Warriors in the distance inspecting the people entering the city and understood that An Jing needed him to act as an ’Escort Leader’ transporting supplies to gather information that An Jing could not. Meanwhile, An Jing himself had some personal matters to attend to, "Do I go directly to the Linlang Commerce Chamber to inquire, or do I go about it in my own way?"

"Press the large button in the middle for talking, the small button on the left for recording, and the small red button on the right for emergency alerts; pressing it will cause me to immediately set out towards you. Take this"

An Jing changed into a set of white clothes, activated the Breath Concealing Ability of his Ghost Scale inner armor together with the Imperial Heaven’s Mysterious Steps, and even if he was right in front of him, Xu Tai could only sense that the person before him seemed nonexistent.

And it was this seemingly nonexistent person who handed him a handful of Thunder Beads and an Armor Talisman—Xu Tai, a man who dared to explore the current situation of Linjiang City with An Jing and faced demon attacks with calm and planning, trembled in his hand for a moment.

—My goodness, a handful of Thunder Beads?! Not one or two, but a handful of Thunder Beads?!

Xu Tai’s eyes and hands trembled, he could tell that An Jing had not counted them, just randomly grabbed a handful from his Great Void Magical Instrument and handed it to him... Aren’t these Bubbles supposed to be used as Dark Hands with a few beads at a time?

Could it be that True Master Mysterious Mirror, Mingguang Dust, was a hidden Heavenly Secret Craftsman who not only made Iron Kites but also Thunder Beads, at least a Grand Heavenly Secret Great Master Craftsman!

Xu Tai swallowed hard, but his hands still carefully stored a bundle of fifteen Thunder Beads in his water bottle—with these Golden Sun Thunder Beads, without a Great Void Magical Instrument or a Yin Jade Box, they had to be calmed by water.

"I need to go find my mother first, I don’t have time to gather information right away, you go run the errand for me."

An Jing watched Xu Tai get ready, and nodded slightly, "As for the method, go about it in your own way. Let me know when you’re going to Linlang Commerce Chamber, I’ll disguise as one of your Escort Masters and go with you."

"Alright."

That’s enough, An Jing’s figure disappeared into the blizzard, and Xu Tai exhaled a breath of air—An Jing gave generously when it came to equipment, truth be told, even without discussing the divinely abnormal function of the walkie-talkie, just these Thunder Beads as a hiring fee were enough for him to seriously make a move once, but for An Jing they were clearly just tools to ensure the completion of the mission.

He steadied his mind, ran through his plan again in his heart, and then began to stride towards the gates of Linjiang City.

Meanwhile.

An Jing’s figure had already disappeared over the city walls.

For martial artists, running along rooftops is no different from walking on main roads, especially for a martial artist at An Jing’s level. As long as the surface is not smooth, with their strength to propel their weight, it’s as effortless and casual as lifting a teacup to drink water.

There were supposed to be formations on the city walls, but not to mention the chaos caused by the Divine Weapon’s departure from the Great Formation, the Emperor’s Blood in An Jing’s Divine Sea also enabled him to ignore many of the simpler defensive formations.

In just an instant, An Jing had crossed the city wall and landed in the city, blending in with the flying snow.

Upon entering the city, An Jing quickly discerned his bearings and then rushed towards a distant and secluded courtyard in the east of the city.

Before leaving with the group from the Heaven’s Will Demon Sect, An Jing and his mother had predetermined a few cities to meet again, all of which had hidden properties once prepared by the An Family.

That was a hidden small house, buried with some silver for emergency funds and healing pills. Originally, when An Jing and his mother were fleeing south from Hanbei, they had planned to escape here and dig up these backup supplies for emergency and lifesaving purposes.

As long as they could access these backup supplies, even if the An Family were utterly ruined, the two of them could still live in the city for a while.

However, along the way, the fleeing group encountered horse bandits several times. It could be said to be the workings of fate.

Approaching the residence, An Jing’s pupils constricted before entering—he could vaguely hear two people talking inside the courtyard.

One of these voices belonged to his mother, Lady An Shen Shen Mubai. Her tone was relaxed, seemingly chatting about some simple domestic matters, which greatly relieved An Jing, loosening the tightly wound strings in his heart.

The voice of the other person, however, caused the strings in An Jing’s heart that had just loosened to tense up again—not too tightly, but more out of incredulity.

With myriad thoughts in his mind, An Jing eventually stood in front of the courtyard gate and knocked.

The conversation stopped.

Then came the sound of two people’s footsteps.

"May I ask... who is the visitor?" The voice of Shen Mubai was wary.

An Jing had a lot to say, but in the end, thousands of words converged into one: "Mother."

There was a pause at the door, and then hurried movements ensued.

Swish.

The door opened.

"My son!"

Opening the door, Shen Mubai and An Jing saw each other. The tall lady from the Martial Family, only half a head shorter than the now grown An Jing, knew immediately who the visitor was upon hearing his voice. She moved forward with excitement, and An Jing also stepped forward to embrace his mother.

"I’ve come back to find you, Mother!"

A sense of relief appeared, and a constant unease that hovered over his heart dispersed.

An Jing always preferred to think the worst, he couldn’t help but imagine if something tragic had befallen his mother, if she had encountered an accident, if his mother... The more he thought, the more anger and restlessness grew in his heart, and a gloomy sense of destruction brewed within him.

This urge to destroy everything, the irritable desire to unleash a furious rage—if not for An Jing’s ability to control himself well, he would have long been unable to resist finding an excuse to go on a killing spree, venting his emotions.

At that time, An Jing, perhaps very much like the Seven Fiend, but was certainly not at peace.

But now, embracing his mother, feeling her vital energy steady, and even her strength having progressed from Inner Breath like Silk to Inner Breath as Vast as River, An Jing’s spirit was not just relaxed, it was serenely peaceful.

He even forgave many people he had yet to meet in advance. As long as those people didn’t do anything too disgusting in front of him, he would magnanimously consider them as nothing more than a fart and let them go for a limited period.

It was in this state of mind that An Jing raised his head, looking somewhat complexly at the courtyard covered in frost, and at the girl also dressed in frost white.

The girl with white hair, Bai Qinghan, stood quietly in the courtyard, with the dim yellow light from inside the house casting a glow on her cheeks. The silent girl stared at An Jing, her long eyelashes trembling slightly beneath her elongated eyebrows, like the reflection of the moon in water—peaceful, ethereal, and luminously pure.

"Qinghan..." An Jing spoke with a complex tone: "You are here."

"Eldest Senior," Bai Qinghan lowered her gaze, her voice soft as she looked down and responded, "I am here."