Chapter 76: Seven Fiends, Seven Luminaries Celestial Fate
“Ouch…”
At that moment, jolted awake by the violent tremors, Master Liu stirred from unsciousness. He rubbed his head, his mind still ringing with pain.
As soon as he saw the city garrison, his eyes lit up. Struggling to his feet and brag himself against the stove, he loudly pined, “Sirs, Daqiang and his bunch of brutes are bullying ho folk!”
“Mr. Liu, please calm down,” the armored Captain said, surveying the se in astonishment. From the moment they detected bat, it had taken them just over two mio arrive—remarkably fast, yet still too te.
Under normal circumstances, if a Spirit Awakening realm fight were a direct ring battle, it could end swiftly, sih sides would be forced into immediate frontation with no room to dodge. However, if someone chose to run and avoid the fight, finishing off an oppo in such a short time would be nearly impossible.
Yet what y before them was a heap of bodies strewn across the front of the breakfast stall, each thhly defeated by the other side. In truth, the etle likely hadn’t sted more than half a minute.
“The Day-Tiger Gang’s Daqiang…” the Captain murmured, then turo Master Liu. “Who was the other party? Which gang’s expert was it?”
“Well… I was just knocked out…” Master Liu stammered. He khe one who had taken down Daqiang and his men had to be Huo Qing—actually, no. Huo Qing’s strength alone wasn’t enough. It must have been that barbarian youth by Huo Qing’s side. Still, Master Liu had no idea who that youth was, and he wao protect Huo Qing—the boy he had watched grow up—from more trouble.
“I see.” Those words told the Captain right away that someone local had been involved.
A bit of digging would soon reveal who it was. In fact, he already had a det guess, so he saw no need for a formal statement.
With a gesture, he signaled his men to haul the unscious gang members away one by ohen he examiheir injuries. “One was fttened by a single punch, and the rest were knocked out after surrendering…”
“This burst of power is quite impressive—extremely refined. It must be some form of body cultivation skill… Iing. Vital Essence Like Rivers, yet he’s this formidable in battle? His natural talent is substantial.”
From this, the Captain deduced it was no ordinary enforcer or red pole*; if it had been, the gang would have long since poured resources into him, pushing him at least to the peak of Vital Essence Like Tides. If he had a Spiritual Root, entering the Qi Refining stage would have been expected.
Vital Essence Like Rivers was retively low in rank, but his real bat ability, enhanced by body cultivation, was impressive—likely a wandering barbarian. That made things simpler; there’d be o pursue him.
Ohey interrogated the Day-Tiger Gang members, the details would e to light, and the case could be ed up.
Unlike Master Liu and Huo Qing, the Captain had no wish to iigate a small neighborhood dispute.
Normally, a wandering barbarian that skilled—uhered to any anization—would pique the City Garrison Force’s curiosity. But now was not the time. Orders from above demahat every town in the four main Safe Zones around Xuay be ready for a sweeping manhunt to capture fugitives roaming the area.
Something major was on the horizon.
Elsewhere, unaware of the looming storm, An Jing and Huo Qing were hurrying toward a junkyard oskirts of Xuay. In such a colossal metropolis, the daily flow of materials rose like mountains and seas—and so did the volume of waste.
Xuay had more thay designated spots for colleg and disposing of trash. One, reserved fh-value meical equipment, was located in the southwestern part of the Fu Pins.
There, a man Huo Qing called “Uncle” ran a small recyg shop. Huo Qing and Daqiang had previously sold off stolen goods there. The junkyard was alsnized by many gangs as a rare “ral peace zone.”
Several recyclers here boasted siderable strength and operated with partial official support from Xuay, so her gangs nor smaller panies dared provoke them.
Because of this rality, business was ducted impartially, and gangs generally hohat. Thanks to An Jing’s speed, the three of them—including Daqiang, whom An Jing had knocked out once more—arrived at the southwestern junkyard before Huo Qing colpsed from exhaustion.
Scrapped flying shuttles, industrial refuse, and shattered Magical Artifacts were piled high in a field outside the city, f a veritable graveyard of metal.
Several skilled recyclers with official permits had set up their own sheds, but they couldn’t cover every er, so plenty of freence sgers still roamed about. The u in Xuay hadn’t reached this pce yet, leaving it retively calm.
As An Jing stepped forward, the stench of industrial scrap and engine oil hit him full force, stirring a strange sense of familiarity.
The air was heavy with a grimy rot, remi of what he had entered before the Heavenly Demon was unsealed in Hanging Fate Valley.
“There’s a lot of Demonic Qi here,” he noted, going o. He and a puzzled Huo Qing ducked behind a dipidated flying shuttle, cautiously surveying the junkyard. “Is there a Heavenly Demon lurking around?”
“Unlikely,” the Sword Spirit answered after a quick s. “If an ordinary realm is pristihen when a Heavenly Demon appears, it’s like a sandstorm. By parison, the Tianyuan Realm is covered in just a thin fog. It’s a bit of a nuisance, but not truly obstructive to cultivation.”
“Then the level would be a thicker fog or smog,” An Jing mused. “Something that obscures vision and harms the body.”
The Sword Spirit chuckled. “There’s more to it, but that’s the gist.” Yet An Jing still wondered, “Why is the Demonic Qi so pronounced here? And why is it heavier in the junkyard than elsewhere?”
The Sword Spirit expined patiently, “This realm is brimming with Demonic Qi, Baleful Qi, and Camity Qi, all of it deeply ingrained. It likely suffered the same ‘Great Camity’ Huaixu endured, but survived—albeit barely.
“Demonic Qi drives corruption, wiess, decay, and rot. A world saturated with it slides into a time of waning dharma. That doesn’t mean spiritual energy va means the world’s order unravels, ing the foundations of many cultivation arts… like with Huaixu, who had to forsake normal cultivation and take up the Heaven-Ordained Fate Martial Path.
“Because a junkyard symbolizes decay, it naturally attracts Demonic Qi. Still, pared to a mass grave or a bloody battlefield—cursed grounds that could spawn numerous demonic creatures—a junkyard might at most produe demonic rats or is.”
The Sword Spirit sighed. “People in this realm are fiercely martial, clearly uhe Heavenly Demon’s sway… But you, An Jing, are different. Ba Hanging Fate Valley, you were face-to-face with a Heavenly Demon. Didn’t it affeind at all?”
An Jing paused, then shook his head. “I actually stayed pretty calm. By then, the worst trials of my life had already passed. I killed the Medie Manor Lord to avenge my fallen rades, thehe survivors away from the demonic sect, so my sce is clear. I don’t really care what others think of me.”
“So when I saw that Heavenly Demon emerge, aside from the foul stench, I felt remarkably posed.”
“That’s abnormal,” the Sword Spirit said firmly. “A Heavenly Demon’s distortion of emotions and thoughts is like a scorg sun gring down on all. Even if your heart were ice-cold, its surface should still melt, causing turmoil—like dust settling on a mirror, needing stant wiping.
“Unless you mao subdue it with a powerful Heaven-Ordained Fate.” After thinking for some time, the Sword Spirit revealed its theory.
“An Jing, your Heaven-Ordained Fate is exceptionally potent. That acid rain was filled with Demonic Qi and Baleful Qi—enough to deter Internal Energy cultivators or even Internal Fortifiartial masters. But you showed no fear at all.
“It ’t be just a Star Fiend Strae. My guess is that you might be…” The Sword Spirit paused. “A Seven Fiends Fate that emerges only in times of Great Camity! 【Seven Fiends, Seven Luminaries Celestial Fate】!”
(End of Chapter)
*“Red Pole” is a term referring to an enforcer hting lieutenant iain ese underworld hierarchies (especially Triads). Literally “red stick,” it signifies a high-ranking member reized for their bat prowess.
