All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 530 - 137 Family (2/3)

Chapter 530: Chapter 137 Family (2/3)

An Jing’s reunion with his parents was without ripples or twists. The couple originally had much to say, but upon meeting, they simply embraced tightly, leaving Jing’er scratching his head, unsure of what to say: "These two sure are quite..."

He laughed, shaking his head, and turned to interrogate the prisoners.

As he had guessed, the commands received by the Iron Cavalry were often contradictory, some from the King’s Faction, others from the Sects, and it seemed that each Sect could issue orders to the King’s Faction, each with different demands.

Take Taiming Sect, for example, their demands were mainly aimed at themselves: either kill, capture, or at the very least, defeat and suppress their momentum.

Zuohuan Sect’s demands were nearly the same, basically calling for his elimination.

However, Huangyang Sect was more restrained, not demanding his death, even specifically advising not to harm his life, and to send him back to Bright Mirror Sect so as to resolve karma.

"Heh, although Huangyang Sect is third among the Five Sects and outwardly opposes Bright Mirror Sect, who is ranked second, it appears their intentions aren’t completely so."

An Jing also knew that the King’s Faction didn’t truly wish to fight this battle; it was predominantly pressured into it by the three Sects. King Ju Guang, Cui Siluo even came specifically to inquire, asking when the battle would end. If it truly couldn’t be won, then don’t fight it; to retreat after one loss and return, as he would withstand the pressure.

For Iron Li, perhaps this was indeed the best approach. However, the presence of the True Demon Envoy allowed no such choice for that Iron Li General, and An Jing had exceeded his expectation, managing to breakthrough in a single assault without room for grumbling logistics or retreats.

Of course, these commands were not truly top-secret; the real death orders were known only to the primary commander, who was now dead, thus leaving no proof behind.

"If we must differentiate, the powers of this world can be divided into three ranks."

After interrogation, while on his way home, An Jing pondered: "The Heavenly Ancestor is the first tier, a continental force, which, despite any possible decay and corruption, is still a super organization far surpassing all other powers within this continent."

"The Upper Gate and Middle Gate are the second tier, regional and national forces, which combined can contend with the Heavenly Ancestor. The clash between these two tiers is virtually irrelevant to the mundane world; it’s in remote and desolate regions like the Extreme North Icefield where they vie for dominance."

"The third tier consists of mundane forces, such as Lower Gate and minor sects, as well as conflicts between local powers like the Northern Border, which are closely intertwined with the lives of common folk."

Troops like the Iron Cavalry, it’s absolutely impossible for them to breach a Lower Gate with Manifesting Holy heritage, but ordinary Lower Gates also lack the power to directly confront them, capable only of holding their ground.

Defeating the Iron Cavalry means that within the mundane powers, there really isn’t another method that could pose a threat to An Jing.

Therefore, either the core elites of the Middle Gate come forth, or a Manifesting Holy-level master is sent to assassinate — Divine Repository might be blocked by the Earth Vein Great Formation — Even as a Divine Mandate, An Jing would find it difficult to be treated with such regard because even the likes of Mingguang Dust hadn’t experienced a Manifesting Holy taking action.

The existence of Great Formations lent some order to battles within the Huai Xu Realm: Martial Meridian and below are the highest combat strength in common mundane battles, because the most common Lower Gates usually only possess Divine Repository to defend themselves, and the walking and acting force they can usually send out daily is merely Martial Meridian.

For the same reason, at least a Martial Meridian is required for a sect’s True Transmission.

While a first-tier Divine Repository can suppress the majority of powers, for those medium and high-level powers with Earth Vein Great Formations, even harassing a large city must be done with caution to avoid an upset. Only extremely powerful Divine Repository True Persons possess the capacity to take on a faction single-handedly.

Nevertheless, such True Persons are already the backbone of medium-large and giant powers, able to enter the leadership echelon. As for top-tier True Persons like Mingguang Dust, they can generally be regarded as half Manifesting Holy, representing the ultimate trump card in conventional warfare.

Da Chen’s Divine Repository True Persons can attend meetings in Shenjing just for this reason.

As for Manifesting Holy... even in full-scale wars, they tend not to take action. Having ascended to the very top leadership, they alone could establish a Lower Gate; such patriarch-level individuals would only move if it pertains to the life and death crises of the sect.

If they are driven to desperation and start to retaliate crazily, casting aside all restraint, the Earth Vein Great Formation would be of no use. They would destroy small states one by one, and except for powers like Da Chen, which is a Heavenly Ancestor and has some countermeasures, other forces could only try to sneak attacks and besiege. Beyond that, they could only let themselves be attacked and dragged into a mutual loss.

Although An Jing’s strength seems insufficient for now, from a mortal perspective, there is not much to fear anymore, as long as he stays cautious to avoid being besieged by the Martial Army in the center.

Of course, this presumes that An Jing stays within his own influence. If he were to travel alone, he would need to be at least middle to high level in Martial Meridian to manage it.

Returning home, An Jing happened to overhear his father speaking gravely with his mother: "...I still have to go back there. Although the Tagu Tribe is small, they have taken me as their master; I cannot let them down..."

"Give it a rest," retorted Shen Mubai, glancing at An Qianshan, "you’re just addicted to being an official—Da Chen doesn’t need you, so you’re going to Iron Li to be an official, right?"

"Heh heh..."

An Qianshan did not deny it, and An Jing felt that his father surely had much in common with Weng Cuiyu; he also knew that his father wasn’t someone who could idle away time—even if he wasn’t adept at literature or martial arts, An Qianshan would still engage in trade and build a career. He was very action-oriented and was not afraid of danger and hardships, not even the Demon Disaster in Hanhai could do much to him, and the same would be true for the Frost Calamity.

Moreover, if An Qianshan could really build up some influence in Iron Li, that would be a great boon for An Jing—he and the Bright Mirror Sect could then intervene in Iron Li and support forces aligned with him.

Considering the support An Jing could provide to Tianyuan Realm with technology, the likelihood of An Qianshan making a name for himself is one thousand percent!

But for safety’s sake, An Jing still needed to remind him, "Dad, if you are in Linjiang City, I might be able to protect you somewhat, but if you go to Iron Li... life and death are uncertain!"

"I understand fully."

An Qianshan spoke earnestly, first glancing at Shen Mubai and then looking intently at An Jing, "This time, the levy of Blood Tax—I could have avoided it, and the previous lack of contact was genuinely to avoid burdening you, Jing’er, so that you wouldn’t be affected by your destiny and become a burden."

"But now, if I remain silent and do nothing, it will instead lessen the support you have—for example, this time, if I hadn’t been here, your harassment tactics would have certainly been a step behind them."

"I believe that if I can develop some standing in Iron Li, it will be of great assistance to you."

"That’s true."

An Jing nodded. Although the reconnaissance and harassment by An Qianshan and Cang Linzu behind enemy lines hadn’t shown much visible results on the surface, if he truly commanded an army, these enemy spies and scouts would make it hard for him to eat or sleep with their incessant irritations.

Setting fires from time to time, disrupting supplies now and then, and occasionally planting a few landmines and bombs at the camp entrance... If An Jing were harassed in a similar fashion, on the third day, he’d be unable to eat or drink, squatting nearby to catch these damn enemy scouts.

"I don’t really care, he didn’t come home every day anyway."

Although she said this, Shen Mubai still felt a twinge of reluctance—a family reunion would be so nice, wouldn’t it? But that was just wishful thinking. Not to mention An Qianshan, even An Jing would eventually go to the Bright Mirror Sect, and Shen Mubai was well aware that she would likely only stay in Linjiang City.

These matters, An Qianshan and Shen Mubai would discuss amongst themselves, and An Jing could only respect and support his father’s decision.

After spending some time with his family, An Jing planned to continue with his work and cultivation.

However, as he was leaving the courtyard, he saw a figure waiting for him at the doorway.

"Qinghan, why are you here?"

An Jing was surprised, but then he looked closely and exclaimed with delight, "Eh, you’ve advanced in Inner Strength? Impressive!"