Chapter 24: The Grand Void Passage

  The storeroom was her a treasury nor an armory. It tained no treasures, nor any on nizable form.

  Row upon row of ste shelves held all manner of oddly shaped vessels and ritual implements, as well as a variety of a musical instruments such as bells.

  All of these objects were arranged i order; some even had bels indig the time and pce where they had been discovered.

  An Jing’s gaze fell upon an object that looked half like a ge (a type of dagger-axe) yet not quite, its shape resembling the fangs of some ferocious beast.

  【Fate Artifact: Fanged Dagger-Axe. Tianxing 2nd Year. Uhed in the li Witch Wilds. Wielding it harden bone and sharpen fangs, invigorate blood, and strengthen life. Corresponds to the Heaven-Ordained Fate “Tiger-Ox Rushing to Si.”—If someohout that Fate uses it, their mind will fall into aberration.】

  An Ji looked at a small bronze bell.

  【Fate Artifact: Rust-Streaked Bell. Longshuo 1st Year. Uhed in the Hanhai Bai. Its reverberations jolt the spirit, awaken the mind, and summon souls. Corresponds to the Heaven-Ordained Fate “M Bells, Evening Drums.”—Taboo unknown.】

  …

  An Jing pted this. Each object here was called a “Fate Artifact,” corresponding to a certain “Heavenly Fate” or “Heaven-Ordained Fate,” each possessing some peculiar property.

  Only a small fra of these artifacts had any disible funost remained enigmas—though known to be unusual, their corresponding Fate and effects were still unclear.

  At the ter of the storeroom stood a et left empty.

  【Fate Artifact: Life-Nurturing Vessel. Tianbao 5th Year. Uhed in Dao Ruins of Old. Gathers essend unifies qi, using life to foster life. Corresponds to the Heaven-Ordained Fate “Borrow Qi to Restore the Soul.”—If someohout that Fate uses it, both soul and blood perish.】

  “Gathers essend qi, using life to foster life…”

  Recalling the vats of medial paste, An Jing’s eyes fshed with murderous i. “So that’s the tool used to refine ‘medial material’ into ‘Great Medie.’”

  Those children in the dungeon… their fate had been to bee such “Great Medie,” hadn’t it?

  As for the whereabouts of that Life-Nurturing Vessel…

  An Jing suddenly recalled the dark golden vessel on the Deputy Medie Envoy’s desk in the Medie Pavilion.

  That robably the Life-Nurturing Vessel… so it had been right there in the Deputy Envoy’s hands all along.

  He truly had not hidden it at all.

  An Jing exhaled a long breath, his gaze deepening as he tio survey the room.

  None of the Fate Artifacts here seemed especially precious; the Life-Nurturing Vessel was evidently among the highest-grade artifacts.

  An Jing refrained from toug anything. Clearly, many taboos had already cost human lives to discover. He only looked around in search of any tool he might need.

  【An Jing】

  Ever siering the storeroom, the sword's voice had gone silent for a while. Now it spoke again:

  【The er on your left.】

  Following the hint, An Jing looked over. A pierg aura of cold light fred up there.

  In that er, among a jumble of dull items, one objeow radiated a subdued glow.

  It was a broken sword.

  An old, inplete bde resting in the er, the hilt still intact, but the bde itself all but snapped off at the base—dark, rusted, and seemingly worthless.

  Yet An Jing froze. He could see that this sword… looked exactly like the hilt of the rusted sword from the “Serene Sword Teique” the mysterious sword voice had taught him!

  Except that, in his inner vision, the meditative sword was plete, whereas here before his eyes, it y tattered and unusable, almost entirely ruined.

  L his gaze, An Jing ied the bel:

  【Fate Artifact: Broken Bde. Jingg 1st Year. Discovered in the Northern Frontier. Usage unknown. Corresponding Fate unknown. Taboos unknown. Presumed to be associated with a martial Fate of killing.】

  Jingg was the most ret era name of the Great Dynasty, the year immediately following the Frost Camity in the Northern Frohe same year An Jing’s family had fled.

  The broken sword was wholly unremarkable, g known fun, Fate unknown, and its bde almost destroyed. As a on, it was of no use, so they had stored it away as one of the lowest-grade Fate Artifacts.

  But now, it was shining.

  “Take hold of me.”

  The crisp, mysterious voice—or the voice of the sword itself—became clearer, as though murmuring at his ear. “Visualize the ‘Serene Sword Teique.’”

  Covered in rust, the sword appeared frail beyond measure.

  An Jing stepped forward and grasped its hilt. A chill of grim sughter coursed from his palm straight to his chest.

  Yet it did not feel oppressive. To the trary, An Jing sensed a strange patibility, as though the sword were aension of his own body, linked by blood.

  “Huh…?”

  Suppressing his breath aering a calm state, An Jing visualized the rusted sword. To his astonishment, the broken bde vanished from his hand— and within his spirit, in the hidden recesses of his mind, a faint sword-shadow emerged!

  Ihat mental sea, the sword’s hilt became even more defined. Some of the rust fked away, and part of its bde regained a trace of keen sharpness, glowing with a silvery brilliance.

  “This is incredible!”

  Shifting his thoughts once more, the broken bde reappeared in An Jing’s hand. Though miraculous, it was not so surprising when he recalled how the Sword Spirit had taught him that meditative teique from afar.

  “Your physique actually handle my sword’s baleful aura—a Geal Baleful Qi!”

  The mysterious voiow clearly the sword’s spirit—sounded amazed. “What sort of stitution and Heaven-Ordained Fate do you have?”

  But soon, it spoke dismissively, “Well, good. You won’t be corroded by my sword’s qi, and iure you might even temper your body with it.”

  “I was going to have you e, but this saves us some trouble.”

  Just then, the echo of hurried footsteps sounded.

  “They’re here? Their pace isn’t too fast—probably not a full search… maybe a routine iion?”

  An Jing lifted his head to listen carefully, brow creasing. “I left no trace, but if they decide to check the storeroom, I definitely won’t be able to hide.”

  “What should I do now?”

  An Jing gripped the broken sword, cealing himself behind the door. “Someone’s ing nearer for certain, probably to ihe pce.”

  “If they discover me, I won’t necessarily be killed, but they’ll keep me under close watch, and I’ll lose the freedom I enjoy now as ‘senior brother.’”

  “There’s no way out of it. Maybe I could try esg by force with a mask, but I might not be able to defeat them.”

  “You speak the truth,” said the sword-spirit. “Though these demonic sect followers have shallow foundations, they’ve all stepped into Internal Energy— they are real cultivators of martial arts.”

  “You, however, though you have a solid base and stand just oep from Internal Energy, are still not at that realm.”

  “If it were a single oppo, you might manage. But you are not yet their match collectively.”

  “I know.”

  Although the footsteps outside were already in the courtyard, An Jing stayed calm. “You must have some pn. Tell me, and I’ll follow it.”

  The Sword Spirit seemed to approve of An Jing’s posure. “Grip the sword. Use the ‘Serene Sword Teique.’”

  An Jihe sword, cirg the Serene Sword Teique, visualizing the rusted bde in his mind.

  At that same moment, the rusted sword in his mental sea overpped with the broken sword in his hand. Where the bde was severed, a glimmer of silvery sword-light emerged.

  It quivered, releasing a visible halo of light.

  “What is this?”

  Even with his eyes closed, An Jing se. Shocked, he heard the Sword Spirit instruct, “Feel my presence. Feel my fragments.”

  An Jing recalled that icy aura from when he first grasped the sword. Using the broken bde as a focal point, he tried to perceive.

  Suddenly, he saw six other points of light in his mind. Three of them were dim and distant, presumably very far away. One was also dim and not too far, but equally lifeless. Another was extremely close, nearly overpping with An Jing himself, though it flickered as if sealed.

  Only one gleamed with steady radiance.

  “Open your eyes. Strike toward the most stable one.”

  The Sword Spirit’s words brooked ation, and An Jing obeyed without question—opening his eyes and sshing forward with the sword iy space.

  He watched in disbelief as the brokeore open a bck rift in the air before him.

  Beyond that deep, lightless fissure y some other world.

  “What oh is…”

  Even with An Jing’s unonly strong mind, steadied by Serene Sword Teique, he froze for an instant. But almost immediately, he realized this might be his only path to a safe escape!

  “Go in.”

  The Sword Spirit spoke quietly: “It’s our one ce to break out of this cage.”

  Cck!

  At that very moment, someone ied a key into the storeroom door. Wasting not a sed, An Jing stepped through the rift.

  Cck!

  The door swung open. A small team of sect members entered and searched the area.

  “No signs of anything amiss.” One of them looked around and muttered, “What’s the Deputy Medie Envoy up to, making us patrol the manor in the middle of the night? The old ma really think someone broke out of the dungeon, does he?”

  “Looks like maybe something was moved…” Another follnced around, only to be tradicted by his panion: “Don’t be dumb! Wasn’t Captain here this m to retrieve that treasured vessel?”

  firming that there was no one inside or out, the group left and locked the door behind them. “Huh, stuck out here in the deep mountains with all these paranoid orders… I’d say the Deputy Medie Envoy’s gone a bit nuts.”

  “Hah, we all have. Who’d willingly stay in this pce? I hope we get transferred back to Great soon…”

  Meanwhile…

  “We’re about to step into another world,” the Sword Spirit’s voice rang within An Jing’s mind, crisp and sonorous as steel. “You ’t remain there indefinitely unless you find more of my fragments tthen my power.”

  “The fragment to you is right in the valley behind Hanging Fate Manor. Don’t worry; the sect will hold some initiation ritual there, giving you a ce to enter.”

  “Tighten yrip on the sword hilt. Run the Serene Sword Teique. Ssh into thin air. You’ll either ehat other realm or return to Huaixu*. You have outstanding talent, and along with the abilities your innate wisdom grants, once you advao Internal Energy in that world without drawing attention, these run-of-the-mill demonic sect followers will be no match for you.”

  “I have little doubt I break through to Internal Energy, but how will I hide it from the Manor Lord?”

  An Jing asked quietly, “He’s at the Internal Fortification realm, and he also possesses a type of Divine Marvels for observation. If I break through, I likely won’t escape his notice.”

  “By using the Serene Sword Teique to maintain ‘serenity’ of mind, I help you ceal it, at least from those below the level of the Divireasury,” the Sword Spirit replied. “But don’t let yuard down. That other realm tains many resources and dangers I ’t fully predict. Whether you harhem et yourself killed by them is up to you.”

  “Our fate is in our own hands.”

  “I uand. I won’t let this ce slip.” An Ji a profound crity in his heart. From the momeepped toward the dark fissure, he knew his destiny now y in his own hands—and in his own sword.

  He crossed the threshold of that rift.

  Darkness engulfed his sight, then gradually gave way to light.

  He found himself in a deep underground ruin, where a massive steel dome supported yers of earth and solid rock all around—stable, silent.

  Though it y far below the surface, it was not pitch-bck. Large clusters of faintly glowing, translut vines provided soft light, allowing him to see the area clearly.

  “What is this pce…”

  An Jing took in the vast subterranean site. Its architecture was distinctly a, resembling a toppled heavenly hall—grand and reverent. Rows of colpsed ns adorned with meticulously wrought otifs and phoenix-shaped script exuded a refined cssical beauty, merging magnifice with elegan perfect harmony.

  Stepping back a little to get a better look at the ruins, An Jing suddenly shuddered. He realized he had trodden on something hard and brittle. Ag on instind using Mysterious Steps, he kept silent but crushed it utterly underfoot.

  Turning around to check, An Jing’s eyes went wide. In the glow of the luminous vines, he saw… corpses. Or rather, piles of them!

  Heaps of skeletal remains in uniforms y scattered everywhere. A moment ago, An Jing had stepped on one of these bones by act.

  “Wait?!”

  But what truly startled him was not just the presence of these white skeletons. It was what they held in their hands.

  Because in the grasp of those corpses, An Jing saw something deeply familiar from his previous life—something he had never ontered in his current life.

  —It was a gun.

  Not a spear or not a wooden or metal pike…

  —But a firearm. A rifle.

  (End of Chapter)

  *怀虚界, literally "Realm of Embrag Emptiness." In the end, I picked the transliterated versiohis. It's also beeioned before once or twid as far as I uand the name of the greater world, or "realm" they live in.