Destiny is ashes

Chapter 954 Zhang Junxuan (4000 words)

Just how powerful is destiny?
This is a question that perplexes many martial artists, especially the younger generation.

Because they had not yet experienced the long years, they had never seen with their own eyes those beings whose mere talent was enough to make all their peers despair. They had only glimpsed fragments of those true geniuses who almost surpassed human intelligence through stories, legends, and myths.

Destiny.

It's not simply a matter of 'divine protection,' but rather that an individual possesses extraordinary talent, perseverance, and mental fortitude, surpassing all others, which is why they are bestowed with a great destiny by the heavens and become the Lord of Destiny.

It is not that they were chosen by the Heavenly Dao to change the world, but rather that they originally had the potential to shake the cause and effect of the world, which is why they received investment.

Legend has it that each of these chosen ones would create an era under their rule, causing generations to change, celestial bodies to rise and fall, and all things to prosper and decline accordingly.

However, the history described in these accounts is not intuitive.

The achievements they made seem to be something that others could also accomplish. Not to mention, even in an era when the Mandate of Heaven existed, there would still be powerful figures in the world who could contend with it. Just like the emergence of the Seven Fiends Tribulation in each generation, even if they grew to the final level, the strongest figures of the Heavenly Sect could still rival them, and even defeat and suppress the Mandate of Heaven with the power of the sect, thus "winning half a move against Heaven".

Of course, the power of the Seven Fiends Tribulation is enough to break the originally unbreakable Heavenly Order, disrupt the balance of fortune, and cause the resistance forces within many sects and Heavenly Sects in the continent to rise up—even if the Seven Fiends Tribulation fails, the Heavenly Sects attacked by them will still be crushed.

Naturalists are even less likely to take action; most of them focus on peaceful development, then establish their own path and sect.

Therefore, it makes people feel lucky.

This banquet to pay homage to the true master, held in the name of the 'Master of Nature,' brought together the chosen ones from all over Huaixu, who all harbored this sense of good fortune. Proud people do not consider themselves weaker than others; even if it is destiny, they have the confidence to compete.

but now……

Upon witnessing An Jing's true power, even the most arrogant and conceited Huai Xu martial artist had to admit the absolute gap in strength and skill, leaving him shocked and speechless.

But the warriors of the Great Wilderness Realm didn't have so many thoughts. Yu Feng, who had been eating and drinking like crazy since the beginning, took a moment to look up and sense An Jing's domain. He felt no shock, only the joy of having found a powerful figure: "I knew it was strong, but it's actually this strong!"

"Now, as long as I can find An Jing in the Zhaolin Realm, I really don't need to worry about danger!"

If An Jing really is a naturalist, then this idea is probably correct. On the other side, Hui Tianyu, who has been meticulously recording An Jing's data since the beginning, was overjoyed: "Heaven above, Brother Yu Jing, I'm going to make a fortune this time!"

“In the past, An Jing’s enemies who became his adversaries were basically all dead. Even if some data survived, it was from a long time ago or was not detailed enough. But now, there is plenty of detailed information!”

At this point, he was incredibly excited: "Natural Master is so strong, his chip project is sure to be incredibly profitable. I'll immediately notify the sect that I need to borrow money, leverage, and increase investment!"

“Uh…” Gu Yujing, who was standing to the side, had a slightly different opinion. His already composed face was now even more furrowed: “Although he is called a natural master, there are differences between those who create cultivation methods, those who create celestial mechanisms, and those who create alchemy and talisman arrays. I think this Master An is more of the cultivation method type. His celestial mechanisms are probably… not so reliable. There is still a possibility of losses.”

His words were already quite tactful, but Hui Tianyu didn't see it that way at all. He was full of confidence: "Impossible, absolutely impossible—speaking of which!"

Looking at Gu Yujing, Hui Tianyu's eyes burned with fervor: "Brother, your family is so wealthy, could you lend me some spiritual materials? I promise to pay you back!"

"I don't care. We've been through thick and thin together. You don't have to pay me back."

Gu Yujing shook his head and sighed. He realized that his friend had fallen into the same madness shared by the Tianxing Divine Sect and Tianji Mountain—believing that he had intelligence and technical expertise, so he would gamble away his entire fortune whenever he encountered what they considered an opportunity.

They might win a few times, but in the end, they'll definitely be gamblers who die a violent death and lose everything.

"Thanks, bro, but aren't you going to vote for yourself?"

Hui Tianyu was already lost in his fantasy of riding the express train of destiny, making a fortune and never lacking cultivation resources again, reaching the pinnacle of life and becoming an elder or even the sect leader of the Divine Sect. But even so, he still remembered to lend a hand to his brother.

Gu Yujing turned her head and glanced at An Jing, who was smiling and chatting with You Ruhui. She shook her head and said, "My father and the ancestral god told me that our ancient clan only needed to accumulate wealth. As long as I don't gamble, I can spend all the family's assets in my lifetime."

Hui Tianyu asked in surprise, "Aren't you able to see time? Why aren't you afraid of this?"

“It’s precisely because we can see time that we dragons don’t actually like to gamble.” Gu Yujing shook her head: “There are too many infinite possibilities. This is not a world of 100%, but a world of 120%, or even 100%.”

"Of course, if even we dragons start gambling on 'possibilities,' there is only one possibility... that the tangled web of cause and effect is so vast that we cannot see the threads clearly and are forced to place ourselves within it."

At this moment, the banquet was proceeding as scheduled. On the banquet table, the Four Seasons Dragon God, who had previously held a separate meeting, and the powerful leaders of the Heavenly Sects who had come to the gate had also quietly arrived in the Great Void.

Sensing from afar, they naturally knew about An Jing's previous performance and took in the reactions of everyone in the room.

This has never happened before.

Deep within the void, the Dragon God of Death [Wang Shiming] spoke somberly.

He had a dragon's head and a human body, with black scales and red eyes, and looked like a middle-aged man. His tone was even more aged: "[Single-handedly subdued the entire audience... Some little guys are hiding their true strength. Hmph, how boring. I just want to see rivers of blood.]"

[Hidden strength indicates they have the confidence to defy fate, but they shouldn't have unleashed it now; the bloodshed is happening now, and they'll gain nothing.]

Xing Shilong God [Xing Shihuan] smiled and said, looking like a beautiful young woman who had just come of age, with her fiery red hair seemingly burning: [I told you we should let the younger generation go out and explore more, otherwise how will they know that there are dragons beyond dragons, and heavens beyond heavens?]

[Speaking of which, Brother Shiqin, what do you think...?]

Both the unhappy and optimistic dragons turned to look at the current Dragon King, as if silently asking a question. Jin Shiqin watched Jin Yanhua leave the group and walk towards An Jing and You Ruhui, shaking his head and saying, "Don't look at me, I don't know more than you... The only thing I'm sure of is that this is definitely not An Jing's true strength."

If you can't see it, just say you can't see it. It's not shameful.

Ancient Heng muttered something, which earned him a fierce glare from Jin Shi Qin, but the ancient dragon king paid no attention. Instead, he looked curiously towards the banquet platform and asked, "Hey, what's going on over there?"

Why did the people from the Xuan Sect go looking for An Jing?

【Go to Xuanjiao? 】

The dragons' gazes immediately turned to An Jing.

Not only that. On the banquet stage, after An Jing raised his glass and shattered the combined forces, everyone's gaze once again turned to him, their eyes filled with astonishment and confusion.

It wasn't just because of the actions of the 'Shangxuan Sect,' a sect that clearly had a grudge against Anjing and Mingjing Sect, but also because of the two people representing the Tianzong sect.

Among them was a person everyone was familiar with: Duan Chenguang, the "Central Altar General" who was the first true divine mandate holder of Huaixu after An Jing revealed himself to be the "Mandate of Heaven," and who held the mandate of the "Great God of the Three Altars and Seas."

The other one is even more familiar to everyone, especially the older generation.

"I am Zhang Junxuan, a Taoist priest. I have come to visit you unexpectedly. Please do not be surprised."

Appearing before An Jing was a slender Taoist priest with a fair complexion, causing the young martial artist who was smiling and greeting Jin Yanhua to narrow his eyes.

Wearing a long robe with gold trim and a white background, and a mutton-fat jade crown on his head, the Taoist appeared to be in his early twenties. His skin was smooth and beardless, but his eyes were deep and serene. His lips were thin, and he usually appeared serious and unsmiling, but at this moment he deliberately showed a somewhat awkward smile.

As his voice rang out, the entire banquet hall fell silent.

"'Purple Qi Comes from the East' Zhang Junxuan... a monster who overwhelms the younger generation of Zhongheng Daozhou." In the corner, Hui Tianyu said in a low voice, his brows furrowed: "The previous generation's chief of the Shangxuan Sect. The top of the Ten Directions Dao Ranking, the current head of the Three Classics Academy... This is the necessary path for the sect leader to be selected."

"How strange! The Shangxuan Sect and the Mingjing Sect, especially Anjing, have a significant conflict. I thought they would pretend nothing was wrong and secretly plot something. Why are they suddenly taking the initiative to step forward now?"

"That's not all." Gu Yujing also sensed something was amiss: "Judging from Duan Chenguang's expression, he was clearly surprised as well—this wasn't the Shangxuan Sect's plan, but Zhang Junxuan's own doing?"

The tall Taoist priest stood still in the hall. He met An Jing's gaze, his eyes bright, while An Jing slowly stood up, his expression also becoming solemn.

Very strong.

Very strong.

Within the Eye of Destiny, the name of the destiny is revealed, and without a doubt, it is a divine destiny... and an extremely high-level divine destiny [Great Benevolent, Tranquil, Compassionate, and Joyful Heavenly Venerable]!
An Jing never believed that destiny was invincible—if he wasn't destiny, he was still confident in facing another destiny, at most he would just need more time to develop.

He wasn't afraid of anyone as long as they were of the same level.

But such thoughts are just thoughts. In reality, An Jing has never seen an existence of this level. In his eyes, no matter who it is, whether they are of the same level, a True Person, a True Lord, or even a clone of a Saint Demon, they all have 'flaws' and 'deficiencies'.

As long as there is a weakness, there is a possibility to exploit it. Although it is possible that, like the Holy Demon clone, the weakness may be exploited but the opponent's strength is too great to be grasped, most of the time, An Jing only needs to observe and find a set of ultimate methods to deal with the enemy through the opponent's weaknesses.

Only those who can find no flaws in Anjing can be considered true geniuses... but such people are extremely rare. Perhaps Master Ming Guangchen has barely reached that level.

Although it took a long time, Ming Guangchen's every realm was perfectly integrated and solid, with almost no flaws.

The various techniques he used to demonstrate in the mirror seemed ordinary at first, but looking back now, their value has only increased.

but……

The person before me also had no flaws.

In fact, they went so far as to return to simplicity that they couldn't even think of any tactics or strategies to counter him for the time being.

—Interesting. Is this the level of the top disciple of the Heavenly Sect?
Raising his hand to signal Sister Jin, who was frowning and about to explode, not to get agitated, An Jing stood up and said calmly, "As the peak master of Mingjing Sect, we have not forgotten the conspiracy and scheming of Shangxuan Sect against Mingjing Sect."

"As the representative of Dachen, the Shangxuan Sect's interference in the internal affairs of our Beixuan Sacrifice Continent sect will not be ignored."

“Donghua Daoist (Zhang Junxuan’s Daoist name), I don’t want to talk to you unless it’s something important.”

An Jing's attitude was already quite bad, and this was only because he needed to use his identity as a Natural Master to cover it up. If it were up to his true nature, he probably would have already sneered.

"The sect's decisions are not open to questioning."

Zhang Junxuan cupped his hands slightly, seemingly to express his apology, and did not care at all about An Jing's indifference: "Since the mountain lord is unwilling to talk more, then this humble Taoist will make the long story short."

"Before your master Ming Guangchen left Huaixu Realm, he was attacked. I am willing to admit that the person was a member of my Shangxuan Sect, and also my junior brother."

My junior brother's life force is still burning, and your master's karma is also raging. I am unaware of the details of this matter, nor do I wish to speculate. I only hope that you will show mercy and spare my junior brother's life. I am willing to pay any price I can, even if it is unreasonable.

He didn't conceal anything in the first half of his speech, and communicated directly through divine thought in the second half.

—Is that the one who discovered my destiny and wanted to return to the Shangxuan Sect to report, but was stopped by his master, the Jin Yuan Tian Xing Zhe?

An Jing understood. If his destiny had been discovered by the Shangxuan Sect back then, he would never have been able to grow to his current level. Not to mention, without the foundation of the Ascension Path, almost everyone would have guessed that he was the Seven Fiends Tribulation.

As the two most frequently appearing Destinies on the land of Huaixu, the treatment of the Natural Master and the Seven Fiends is vastly different. Ming Guangchen's decision not only brought An Jing the most precious time to develop, but also gave An Jing the opportunity to put on another layer of disguise.

And now, the Shangxuan Sect… no, most likely Zhang Junxuan himself, wants to trade away the life of that Jin Yuantian Walker?

I cannot make transactions on behalf of my master.

An Jing said calmly, "But you can tell me what price you're willing to pay."

[Divine Firmament Thunder Technique, complete text, three divine weapons]

Clearly, Zhang Junxuan had made preparations long ago. Although he didn't know the nature of his relationship with that Faraway Skywalker, it was undoubtedly very important. Without hesitation, he declared: "Spiritual materials and talismans are separate."

You absolutely don't need to worry about my sincerity; it's all here, please feel free to examine it.

As he said this, he picked up a Taixu bracelet that was full of treasures and pushed it in front of An Jing.

(End of this chapter)