My Nascent Soul Ran Away Again

Chapter 77: Reincarnation Bow, Life and Death Arrows

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

One cup of tea later.

On the black warship, Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu stood at the bow, looking down.

Over three thousand sea pirates crouched on the deck, shivering and holding their heads.

Before them lay a headless corpse in black armor, still warm to the touch.

“You aren’t really sea pirates, are you?” Lu Xuan asked.

He had felt something amiss about these men from the moment they appeared. The pirates’ well-coordinated movements and formation fighting didn’t seem genuine.

The pirates, holding their heads, didn’t dare to speak.

“If you won’t talk, I’ll search your souls myself later,” Lu Xuan said, holding a scroll painting. The black-armored man had no identification, only this valuable piece of calligraphy.

Unfurling the scroll revealed bold characters: “Sole Exaltation”!

The vigorous strokes were powerful enough to stir the soul, evoking the image of an imposing, domineering figure with an aura capable of engulfing the world.

The painting bore no signature, but it was clear that the black-armored man couldn’t have written it.

“This contains a trace of the Dragon Emperor’s Dao from Zhongzhou,” Lu Xuan sensed. The aura of dragon veins differed between regions, but that was as far as his perception went.

Lu Xuan wasn’t a practitioner of the Faith Dao and couldn’t discern the subtle differences among the ancient states of Zhongzhou. Moreover, the scroll might not have been left by a living person; some powerful emperors left a lingering dragon aura on their burial goods.

“He came for the Heavenly Emperor’s heavenly realm, carrying this scroll to offer the dragon’s energy to open the heavenly realm,” Lu Xuan surmised.

He struck downwards with his hand, sealing the cultivation of the three thousand “pirates.”

Arriving at the merman nation’s ship, Yushou An was still assimilating the Sea Spirit Pearl. His guards and a few cultivators approached to pay their respects.

“Fellow cultivators, please keep an eye on them,” Lu Xuan instructed, pointing to the warship and taking out several Heart Questioning Treasure Mirrors from his storage artifact.

“These pirates are likely disguised soldiers. Please interrogate them for me… Any found guilty of killing the innocent, oppressing the people, or committing evil, behead them and throw them into the sea.”

“We understand!” the cultivators responded in unison, bowing.

Lu Xuan distributed the Heart Questioning Treasure Mirrors and then, holding the scroll painting, entered the portal in the sky with Cheng Lingzhu.

Inside the Heavenly Emperor’s heavenly realm, which was unlike any ordinary inheritance site.

There were no protective formations or dangerous trials.

According to records from the tomb raiding community’s great seniors, every ancient celestial ruler left a true spirit avatar in their heavenly realms.

Cultivators entering it only needed to pass an interview with the avatar to receive the Heavenly Emperor’s inheritance.

Failure meant being sent out of the Heavenly Emperor without risk to life.

Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu, stepping through the portal, entered a world of contrasts: half gray and lifeless, half vibrant and full of life.

Lu Xuan observed a brightly feathered bird flying past them, transforming within moments.

Its feathers dulled, beak elongated, and claws stiffened as if aged rapidly. It fell from the sky, its life ending soon after.

Its body decomposed swiftly, leaving behind an egg. A chick emerged, beginning its cycle of life and death.

In this place, life and extinction intertwined like day and night, constantly transforming into each other.

Moved by this sight, Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu noticed converging light ahead, forming a human figure.

The figure, smiling, greeted, “Xu, pleased to meet you both.”

The language used was different from the current Archean Eon Realm, but Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu understood perfectly.

They respectfully bowed, “Greetings, Senior.”

Recognizing which Heavenly Emperor’s realm they were in, they remained polite and respectful.

Xu, the Heavenly Emperor, looked at them, then chuckled and said, “Accepted.” Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu were initially puzzled, unsure of his meaning.

“I mean, you two have passed the test,” Xu nodded.

Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu: ???

Lu Xuan had expected an interview to involve meeting and testing.

Why had Xu so casually granted them passage?

Xu didn’t clarify their confusion but extended his hand.

The power of the realm converged in his palm, forming a bubble of light that transformed into a large bow.

This bow, resembling both stone and jade, appeared ancient and substantial.

Alongside the bow, two arrows, one black and one white, materialized.

“This is the only imperial weapon from my realm worthy of mention,” Xu said, handing the bow to Lu Xuan. Upon touching it, Lu Xuan instantly knew its name— The Reincarnation Bow!

Subsequently, Xu, the Heavenly Emperor, handed the two arrows to Cheng Lingzhu.

These arrows were named “Life” and “Death.’

“This bow is complemented by these arrows,” he explained, pointing at the arrows in Cheng Lingzhu’s hands and the bow in Lu Xuan’s. “With this bow in hand, even mortals can hunt gods.”

The Reincarnation Bow with the Life and Death Arrows.

The cycle of life and death, all returning to oblivion.

This was the Dao of the ancient celestial ruler, Xu.

Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu exchanged glances and carefully stored the bow and arrows.

They both stepped back half a step, bowed deeply, and paid their respects.

Xu watched Lu Xuan, then after a moment of silence, said, “The ‘I Ching’ tells me the path ahead is broken.”

“Meeting you today, I have seen a glimpse of the future.”

“If there truly is an underworld, when I meet him again, I can tell him… The future still exists.

Lu Xuan was puzzled by these words.

As he was about to ask for clarification, Xu stopped him: “That’s all I can say.

The rest… must remain unsaid.”

He looked at Lu Xuan, his eyes shining with a firm and serious light.

Lu Xuan reluctantly swallowed the questions he was about to ask.

Finally, Xu reached out, and two streams of light flew from outside into the heavenly realm.

These were the two coffins from the merman tomb.

Xu patted the wooden coffin and smiled, “I should truly rest now… Ah, having company is good.”

He bowed to Lu Xuan and Cheng Lingzhu, smiling, as his light-formed figure and the heavenly realm gradually faded away, eventually disappearing completely..