My Nascent Soul Ran Away Again

Chapter 41: Reborn Nine Thousand Years Too Late

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Within the courtyard.

Lu Xuan was leaning against a pillar near the entrance.

His eyes fixed on the firmly closed door, his heart a tangle of emotions.

How did everything come to this?

He reached up, massaging his temples—

[Bad news: Master’s tribulation was a failure.]

[Good news: She survived the failed tribulation, and it was I who found her.] [Bad news: After her reincarnation, I’m uncertain if she’ll recognize me.]

In a moment of desperation, Lu Xuan had ventured into Cheng Lingzhu’s spiritual realm.

It was similar to how Cheng Lingzhu, now Cheng Hongtan, had recalled her previous life.

In that spiritual realm, Lu Xuan revisited his own emotional odyssey.

The instant their souls connected, Lu Xuan saw the truth.

My beloved was by my side all this time!

Upon realizing Cheng Lingzhu’s true identity, Lu Xuan was overwhelmed with excitement.

He even felt a sudden impulse to formally apologize to the heavens, whom he had scorned for millennia.

But as he regained his composure, worry crept in.

Past and present, soul reincarnation, the awakening of memories…

These all revolved around the existential question: “Who am I?”

Cheng Hongtan was not a usurper of bodies. Lu Xuan knew from her tales of the Dushi Sword House that she had reincarnated as Cheng Lingzhu through a unique secret method.

Yet, she had lived as “Cheng Lingzhu” for so long.

The so-called “bond of a past life” seemed too distant.

As a person of two lives, would she acknowledge him as her husband?

Lu Xuan felt a surge of unease.

His gaze returned to the guest room door, firmly shut, with no hint of opening.

Lu Xuan sighed, lifting his eyes to the sky.

It was a cloudy day, cool yet somber.

Inside the Guest Room.

Cheng Lingzhu sat on the edge of the bed.

Why did things turn out like this?! Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion— [Bad news: I failed my tribulation.]

[Good news: Despite the failure, I had a backup plan. After reincarnation, I encountered Lu Xuan.]

[Bad news: There was a mistake in the timing of my reincarnation. When I

awoke, it was already nearly nine thousand years later.]

According to the typical thrilling narrative, things would go like this—

[A mighty figure, heartbroken, fails the tribulation, only to be reborn nine thousand years later! Watch how she, in this life, turns the tables, controls the elements, and ascends the path of immortality!]

After mentally reciting these melodramatic lines she had read in a story.

Cheng Lingzhu suddenly felt a surge of heroic spirit.

Excellent, reborn today, I shall dominate the era and overpower all formidable foes…

As she stood up, she picked up the Phoenix Blood Sword beside her.

In the world of cultivation, it was said, the first sword of ascension, first cuts through one’s desires…

“How is that even possible!”

Cheng Lingzhu tossed the Phoenix Blood Sword aside, flopped onto the bed, and buried her face in the pillow.

Cutting through the desires, indeed…

Cheng Lingzhu’s cheeks were burning.

She liked him so much, just seeing him probably made her heart race and her limbs go weak. How could she even lift a sword?

Sorry, I’ve let down those ancestors capable of cutting through their desires.

Leaning against the wall, hugging her knees, with the Phoenix Blood Sword beside her, she muttered to herself, “I’ve truly been reborn…”

It felt like waking from a long dream.

A dream both lonely and desolate.

Thankfully, upon awakening, he was still by her side.

The only thing that worried Cheng Lingzhu was…

She had reincarnated too late.

The Dushi Sword House was different from other sects in the Archean Eon.

Normal sects would widely open their doors, recruit disciples, select elites, and through rigorous competition and scrutiny, choose the next successors, the Saints or the Saintesses of the sect.

But the Dushi Sword House did not operate in that manner.

It was by no means a secluded sect. It had its grounds in the Archean Eon, though its main temple was located in a hidden space that was hard to find. Every year, elders and disciples would descend the mountain, traveling far and wide.

Upon encountering those with suitable roots and temperament, they would ask if they wished to join and become a member of the Dushi Sword House.

In this process, many legends about the Dushi Sword House were left behind.

This method of dispatching individuals to seek fortuitous opportunities for disciple recruitment was decidedly archaic, a practice only ancient sects would employ.

Contemporary sects typically send disciples to disseminate flyers far and wide, touting the virtues of their own sects. They then invite a multitude of applicants to undergo tests within an array. Those who succeed would be welcomed as disciples.

This initiative was first introduced by the founder of the Dao Evolution Sect, but now, only those with scant knowledge would consider registering with the Dao Evolution Sect.

In the Dushi Sword House, disciples were personally recruited by their masters, but the Saintess was an exception.

The Saintess of the Dushi Sword House emerged from the Saint Fruit of the ancestral tree.

This Saint Fruit bore once every three thousand years, with a margin of error of a hundred years. In urgent situations, secret techniques could be employed to accelerate its growth.

The infant born from this Saint Fruit would become the sect’s Saintess. Only upon reaching maturity could she assume control of the Dushi Sword House.

This was precisely why the Saintesses of the Dushi Sword House inherently lacked a certain “humanity” and needed to proactively immerse themselves in the secular world to compensate for this deficiency.

Indeed, Lu Xuan had once spoken of something akin to an inch of gold…

Being the holy fruit of the sacred tree, she naturally possessed traits distinct from ordinary humans.

With this thought, the girl hugged her knees, her cheeks tinting with a slight blush.

Being a long-married couple, she should not be blushing. Yet, after her memories awakened, she noticed a shift in her mindset.

Rebirth, she mused, was undoubtedly a blessing…

Cheng Lingzhu quickly shook her head, realigning her thoughts back on track.

She was a prodigy.

Even failing the tribulation did not lead to immediate death.

However, she ultimately did not undergo the crucial transformation from human to immortal during the heavenly tribulation.

At that time, Cheng Hongtan was gravely injured. Thankfully, she had prepared a contingency plan before attempting the tribulation.

Before reincarnating, she placed her handwritten notes into the Sutra Depository, outlining a method to re-experience the mortal world through a dream technique.

Due to time constraints, Cheng Hongtan could not complete this task, leaving it for future generations to fulfill.

Simultaneously, she wielded her formidable divine powers to obliterate all traces of her existence within the sect.

She enlisted the aid of her most trusted elder to help fabricate a segment of Dushi Sword House’s history, effectively erasing Cheng Hongtan from existence.

This was a prerequisite of the reincarnation technique. At her half-step True Immortal level, reincarnation entailed karmic implications, necessitating the removal of certain traces of her prior existence.

Finally, Cheng Hongtan employed a secret method to entrust her waning soul to the Progenitor Tree.

Having just ascended as the master of the Dushi Sword House, and with the new Saintess yet to emerge, she had to invoke the Progenitor Tree to produce a Saint Fruit and nurture the next Saintess.

She would then, with her memories intact, repeat the process and achieve reincarnation.

After all, she was barely over a thousand years old, with nearly four thousand years of life remaining, and her divine soul was robust.

This method of rebirth, not contravening the Heavenly Dao, essentially involved using the Progenitor Tree for healing. It was entirely feasible.

However, the outcome far exceeded Cheng Hongtan’s expectations.

Though she had indeed been reborn, it was nine thousand years too late..