Seven Fates

The Seven Fates are: Evil, Strange, Miscellaneous, Root, Odd, Divine, and Heavenly.

Heavenly Fates and Divine Fates, unless one is an immortal or deity reincarnated, or protected by the will of heaven, are absolutely impossible to possess.

Therefore, the most precious fate in the human world is the [Odd Fate].

Within the Odd Fates, there are further distinctions of 'Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, Mountains, Seas, Stars, and Heavens.'

The fate that Bai Qinghan obtained is precisely the most noble among the many Star Fiend Odd Fates: the [Mysterious Yin Star Fate]!

--The ritual has only just begun, and already there is a Mysterious Yin Star Fate; even if everyone else dies next, it is already worth it!

Although this thought surged within the heart of Manor Master Yao, he did not speak it aloud.

Because he knew very well that the quality of this batch of materials was unimaginably good; just because a most precious [Heavenly Star Fate] had appeared now did not mean there wouldn't be a second one later!

One must know that the [Grand Ritual of Imperial Heaven Star Fiend] borrows the power of extraterrestrial demons and the righteous gods of the Imperial Heaven to plunge the ritual subjects into a tribulation of demonic harassment, then uses the power of the immortal heavenly righteous gods to break it open. By using this chaotic and obscure Profound Origin Qi to connect with fate, it is a secret ritual that seeks the Dao through demons, seeks life through death, and preserves the spirit through tribulation.

This 'Xuanming Valley' is precisely the place where a sword immortal descended to subdue demons and Fuxie during the great Huaixu tribulation; it naturally harbors the intent of gods, devils, and star fiends, making it the most capable of enhancing the ritual's power!

With such an intertwining of yin and yang, and the rotation of life and death, the ritual subjects have a certain probability of entering different states of enlightenment; if they can survive, they can awaken their fate!

"Bai Qinghan..."

Glancing at the roster to confirm the name of the one who awakened their fate, Manor Master Yao nodded with satisfaction: "As expected of an orphan fished out of the Hanhai; to have survived the demonic calamity ten years ago until now, she is truly extraordinary."

"Continue!" His spirits were high at this moment, and he used a jade dagger to slice his hand, sprinkling a spray of fresh blood: "Revere the Imperial Heaven, to clarify the will of heaven!"

The other ritualists also maintained the ritual in succession: "Revere the Imperial Heaven, to clarify the will of heaven!"

The light of the great array flickered throughout the underground of the white sand field, like mountain and sea cloud patterns outlined in cyan light ink. Everyone's energy was completely connected with the ritual; those who succeeded would help them maintain the ritual and reduce consumption.

The 'consumables' who failed and died would have their souls, blood, and everything else transformed into Blood Pill Great Medicine after the ritual, returning to these presiding masters to increase their cultivation and supplement their lifespan.

This is also the reason why they diligently and unreservedly cultivated these young boys and girls—the successful ones and those lucky enough to survive would become one of them, while the failures would also become a part of them.

--The will of heaven is close to the Dao, taking all things as a sacrifice, diminishing the surplus to supplement the deficiency.

The fresh blood they were spilling now was the 'loss of the sacrifice,' and the feedback after the ritual was the 'supplement of the sacrifice'!

And so, the grand ritual continued.

Meanwhile.

Inside the ritual array, An Jing sank into his memories.

He recalled his entire life.

When An Jing was born, Father An was participating in the third imperial examination. On the day he failed again, gave up completely, and prepared to return to his hometown to inherit the family business, it happened to coincide with the Hanhai Demonic Calamity, which severed the Northern Straight Road.

Father An traveled all the way back from Shenjing; the hardships of the journey aside, his son An Jing was already two years old, alert and intelligent. Seeing a tall, bearded man he didn't recognize appear in his home, he immediately shouted for the neighbors to pin him to the ground.

After the villagers released the scholar from Gufeng County, whom they thought had long since died in the demonic calamity, the disheveled Father An did not mind at all. Instead, he laughed heartily, holding his wife An Shen Shi—who was pinching his waist hard—in one arm, and his own son—whom she had been pregnant with before he left, but whom he had been unable to meet due to the disaster—in the other, shouting that this child was just like him.

He thought too much, because An Jing was far smarter than him.

The An family of Gufeng was originally a martial arts family. Their ancestors were pioneering warriors who responded to the Great Chen founding emperor's decree to expand the territory to the north. The family owned hundreds of acres of fertile land, dry fields, and properties in the city; otherwise, they could not have sustained Father An's repeated attempts at the imperial examinations.

Father An, who abandoned literature for martial arts and returned to inherit the family business, was busy, but he would still find time to read ancient books. An Jing would sit by his side, shaking his head and reciting along with his father.

At first, he thought the child was just joining in the fun, but Father An soon discovered that An Jing seemed to understand, and could even read.

Father An was greatly astonished. He casually pulled out a copy of Honglie Astronomy, opened the book, and pointed to it: "Can you read this?"

An Jing scanned the text, and a wealth of information surfaced in his mind. He seemed to have read these characters before; although the shapes of some were slightly different, he could recognize them completely, so he read along with the text: "Before the heavens and earth were formed, misty and indistinct, hollow and vast, hence it is called Tai Zhao..."

The more he read, the more fluent he became, and in the end, An Jing was even shaking his head as he recited.

Father An was immediately plunged into a happy distress—his child seemed to be a Heavenly Star descended to earth, born with knowledge, and far smarter than his old man.

Great Chen valued fate, and there were often stories of stars descending to earth, so the An clan did not suspect anything. However, while Father An had achieved a little in literature and held a degree, his level was just so-so; how could he be qualified to teach a Heaven-sent Star with innate wisdom?

As for martial arts, although Father An's talent was poor and he had only glimpsed the threshold after twenty or thirty years of practice, remaining at the 'Internal Breath like a River' realm, the family's collection of martial classics was profound and said to lead directly to the [Martial Meridian]. He could certainly lay a solid foundation for the child and then send An Jing to a martial academy for further study.

Great Chen was founded on martial arts and governed by law; both literature and martial arts were the righteous paths of this world. He could not make a decision, so he planned to wait until An Jing had grown up.

Before that, he would lay all the foundations for An Jing.

Gufeng County was located in the extreme north of Great Chen and was once a pioneering village under the jurisdiction of Xuanque Prefecture in Hanbei Province, but it had since prospered into a county. Further north lay the borderlands and Qingyu Pass, which guarded the gate between the Great Chen Northern Frontier and the wilderness.

The demons and wild beasts around Gufeng County had been wiped out by the ancestors and the pioneering martial army two hundred years ago, so An Jing's upbringing was quite peaceful.

When An Jing was six, border trade flourished, and Gufeng County became increasingly prosperous as a hub for trade routes. Father An also participated in it and became busy, leaving An Jing to be raised by his mother, An Shen Shi.

An Shen Shi was also the daughter of a martial family; although her talent was poor, her early education was not hindered.

The An family of Gufeng gradually flourished, and life became more and more prosperous. An Jing also built a solid physical foundation and could read classics fluently. All the teachers in the area exclaimed that he was worthy of being the son of a scholar and would surely step into Shenjing, top the golden list, and be ordained for longevity in the future.

But good times did not last long. One summer when An Jing was nine, the border trade market suddenly closed.

Easy business could no longer be done, so Father An had to lead a team to run trade at Qingyu Pass.

But not long after he set off, news of war came from the north.

The Thirteen Kings of Northern Barbarians gathered an army of 300,000 to invade, banners flying, and black clouds pressing down upon the border like a collapse.

By imperial decree, the Great General Who Pacifies the North of Great Chen led his army to launch a punitive expedition, the sound of the army's hooves shaking the heavens and the earth.

From Qingyu Pass to Bailu River, from Yungu County to Mingshan City, there was no place north of Xuanque Mountain that was not a battlefield.

In less than two years, both sides had battered the entire Northern Plains into a state of withering exhaustion, and Father An had gone completely missing.

It so happened that a once-in-a-millennium Frost Calamity struck, leaving the people of the Northern Frontier, who were already barely holding on, in utter misery.

In truth, the Frost Calamity had long been foreshadowed.

Setting aside the Hanhai Demonic Calamity, the wildlands beyond the Northern Frontier had already sensed that each winter was colder than the last, with their harvests and herds growing smaller and fewer.

The previous trade had been their final struggle; the tribes of the Northern Barbarians, having emptied all their savings yet still unable to survive, had no choice but to unite. They had no path of retreat and would exhaust everything to head south.

The An family, and indeed the entirety of Gufeng County, rapidly declined.

It was due to wartime levies, military requisitions, and the southward encroachment of the Frost Calamity, which froze the crops to death.

Prolonged drought, massive snowfalls from the heavens... coupled with the incursions of the Northern Barbarians, everyone fell into despair.

Before their food supplies were entirely exhausted, Gufeng County had no choice but to flee as a whole.

Fleeing from famine is difficult.

The stored grain was soon finished, and under the Frost Calamity, there were no wild vegetables to be found; they could only gnaw on tree bark and break ice to search for roots. Even Guanyin Soil became hard to come by.

And then... there was the exchanging of children to eat, and the splitting of bones for fuel.

Cannibalism.

It was that simple, that direct. At that time, it was truly a case of "a great famine, where people ate one another."

The An family had accumulated quite a bit over the years and wasn't quite that destitute, but they weren't much better off.

After all, their assets were mostly land, livestock, and other tangible properties, and Father An had been particularly keen on purchasing ancient books and scrolls, which had consumed a significant portion of their wealth.

In the past, this had indeed been a way to elevate their status and cultivate the family legacy. If they could have had twenty or thirty years of peaceful development, producing an Internal Strengthening martial artist or a registered civil official would have been enough to become a prominent clan in the Northern Frontier.

But with war and famine arriving together, family status and prestige became nothing more than dust. Livestock were conscripted, crops withered from drought, books and martial manuals were like waste paper, and land was worthless in such a year.

The elders of the family could not bear to leave the fields and foundation that generations of ancestors had cultivated with blood, sweat, and lives, so they chose to die in their homeland.

The remaining clansmen were scattered by repeated raids from horse bandits and the conscription of soldiers by officials.

In the end, by the time they reached the Huai River, the great river of the Northern Frontier, the former An family had been completely dispersed.

An Jing and his mother fought their way through countless sieges together, defeating and breaking through waves of refugees, robbers, horse bandits, and human traffickers. They trekked through hardships, and ultimately, at the cost of his mother's severe injuries, they arrived near Mingshan City, the hub of the Northern Frontier.

This was his past life.

A series of memories lingered in the heart of An Jing like light and shadow.

In a haze, a pitch-black darkness appeared before his eyes.

Neither light, nor shadow, nor star, nor god; it was void, desolate, and chaotic.

Absolute darkness flowed before his eyes.

Then, a voice spoke.

[What is your destiny?]