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Emerald green radiance poured out of the heart and transformed into motes of light that slowly sank into the little girl resting in Lu Yun’s arms. At the same time, a tiny ripple blossomed from his body and gently closed around the lingering will.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to die.” The power of reincarnation cupped protectively around the will.
“This is… reincarnation!” Shock appeared on the woman’s face. “But reincarnation has dispersed…”
Reincarnation had once illuminated the chief worlds and ruled over all existence. But it was gone in this day and age. Something like the Land of Reincarnation was just a system that imitated reincarnation, it wasn't the true power of reincarnation.
Of course, that the Tome of Life and Death had appeared in the Land of Reincarnation and become Lu Yun’s nascent spirit, helping him wield the power of reincarnation… surely it wasn’t a coincidence.
“Reincarnation won’t help me either,” the woman smiled ruefully.
True enough, Lu Yun couldn’t save her with just the Tome of Life and Death. He could, at most, help her live a little longer.
“Will you live again if you take back the order of life you just gave Chu Xun and I give you this?” Lu Yun manifested the withered wood with a flip of his hand.
The woman’s eyes widened.
“The life core of the tree god is on you… No wonder I felt a bit of a familiar presence from you.” She took a deep breath—that was simply reflex. A face formed by lingering will didn’t breath.
She was very tempted by Lu Yun’s words. She was dead, a perished spirit. No matter how great or selfless one was in life, how ready to sacrifice one’s own life for the good of all, the only thing that the dead wanted was to live again.
Her hope of reviving had been broken before this, which was why she’d been willing to offer up everything that she had. But now, hope bloomed anew.
Lu Yun suddenly felt yin winds whip around them and the woman’s genteel face turned stark white. This was the instinctive desire of the dead, one that suppressed all thought and emotion. He barked a harsh sound and sent the power of reincarnation rippling through the air, exorcising the yin winds.
“Are you… really willing to give me all of that?” the woman’s voice trembled. She didn’t want to die if she could live.
“Yes!” Lu Yun nodded. “But you must transform your dao to the immortal dao and become a cultivator beneath that great dao! And, were you a peak grand supreme before or empyrean supreme?”
“Peak grand supreme,” she chuckled wryly. “How difficult is it to reach empyrean supreme? In all of the chief worlds’ long history, there have only ever been three of that august level. If I can truly grasp the order of life and become its ancestral god, I might have the tiniest chance to break through.”
“Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise are all ancestral gods under supreme order. Are they not empyrean supremes?” Lu Yun frowned.
“That is different, they are connate ancestral gods and born into their positions. They were the strongest of peak grand supreme at their birth and will not lose their edge or improve for as long as they live. It is because of the orders they grasp that they are as strong as empyrean supremes.” The speed at which she spoke was beginning to slow down. Though the woman hadn’t agreed to transfer to immortal dao, Lu Yun could read the answer he wanted from her emotions.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Thus, the fire of the order of life from the withered word and Chu Xun gravitated toward her, becoming one with the sparks remaining in her will. Her fading mind stabilized and began growing stronger.
However, this didn’t seem to be enough.
Ah. Lu Yun had calculated that he needed to use the fruit of life to activate the withered wood if he wanted to break the scheme and make it out of the tomb alive.
He’d been baffled by this conclusion at first, but now understood that activating the withered wood meant resurrecting the woman. Once she was alive again, she could combine the two orders of life to immediately return to peak grand supreme.
A peak grand supreme could naturally ensure Lu Yun and Chu Xun’s safety.
If it wasn’t for their surroundings, Lu Yun would’ve more clearly calculated everything a long time ago. But the presence of dao bones and auras of perished great daos not only limited cultivators from flying, but also suppressed the consciousness and formula dao.
The dao bones were the source of everything and Lu Yun even suspected that the giants’ peculiar strength came from them as well.
The woman had said that the giants weren’t the most terrifying enemy, but they were one of the enemies, at the very least. They were frightening existences living on fallen great daos.
Thanks to her presence, Lu Yun was able to operate formula dao more smoothly than he had thus far in the tomb. Gaining the fruit of life and reviving this peak grand supreme would give him a real chance to make it out.
“In the far off past, one even further back than the Mythological Age, there was an ancestral god of life in the chief worlds. She was killed when she was pregnant and the core essence of the order was divided into three parts,” the woman murmured to herself, not knowing what was on Lu Yun’s mind.
“What is the fruit of life that the giants are using as bait, then?” Lu Yun asked instead of continuing the topic.
“That fruit… is from this tree. It is not one of life, but of death,” she answered solemnly. “The extremity of anything leads to its opposite. The extreme of death is life, so the so-called fruit of life was formed by the death qi of this tree when it died.”
“I understand.” Lu Yun blinked with astonishment as he looked anew at the withered wood in his hand. “That fruit has yet to reach full maturity, so the power it nurtures within is still that of death. This withered wood is also dead, and very thoroughly dead. It also contains the will of death.
“If I combine the two, I will truly have pure power of life.” Lu Yun looked at the beating heart. He didn’t know what it was, but just it alone couldn’t revive the peak grand supreme. It would require the fruit and the withered wood.
“Wait here for me, I’ll go fetch the fruit,” he said. “You’ll be able to return to life then.” He tossed the withered wood at the woman.