A Girl Dies Every Day in Her Dream Life 248

Chapter 248: The Truth of the Celestial Ships, The Demise of Nangong

Under the erosion of the withering intent, Wei, in less than three breaths, transformed from a frail old man into a skeleton, then into dust, scattering in the Primordial Chaos.

Nangong, who had effortlessly annihilated Wei, remained indifferent. She didn’t consider him a powerful opponent. After all, in that distant ancient era, those below the Sea Crossing Realm were considered juniors. For Nangong, personally killing a junior was embarrassing.

However… even with Wei gone, Luo Xue’s situation was still critical.

Her severely injured soul and incomplete withering body were struggling to maintain a balance, and in this weakened state, Luo Xue’s consciousness could barely hold on.

Luo Xue was like a ticking time bomb, the forces of withering and immortality about to clash within her soul and body.

However, Luo Xue, having experienced death several times, was strangely calm.

“I’m sorry, it seems… I haven’t fulfilled my promise.” Nangong looked at Luo Xue, deep regret in her eyes. “I didn’t expect… the opponent you faced would be so powerful.”

Nangong didn’t consider Wei a formidable opponent, but for Luo Xue, he was. Being able to survive until now was already a miracle.

With Immortal Slaughter destroyed, her immortal soul and withering body severely injured, even if the Nangong of the past returned, she wouldn’t be able to save Luo Xue.

“It’s fine, there’s always such a day.” Luo Xue shook her head, her expression calm. “Senior Nangong, with your power, how long can you maintain my current state?”

Luo Xue’s calmness in the face of death surprised Nangong. Even when she had willingly chosen death, the terror of its approach had still made her tremble.

Seeing this, Nangong couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect. She composed herself and said seriously,

“With all my effort… perhaps… I can maintain your current state for about a quarter of an hour, ensuring your safety.”

Actually, with Nangong’s strength, she could keep Luo Xue alive for as long as she wanted, as long as she stayed with her.

But the problem was… she was just a wisp of consciousness, a wisp that was about to dissipate.

A quarter of an hour was all this consciousness of Nangong could last.

“That’s enough.” Luo Xue’s eyes flickered as she looked at the silent celestial ships in the distance. “Can you… take me to see them? I seem to have seen them in a dream.”

“Them?” Nangong followed Luo Xue’s gaze, a surprised expression on her face. “You’ve seen the Wandering Celestial Ships?”

“You… know about them?”

Luo Xue was also surprised.

“Of course, when the Great Thousand Worlds was on the verge of collapse, one faction, using all their resources, built nine celestial ships, intending to escape the inevitable disaster through the Primordial Chaos. Unfortunately, three were destroyed before they could even depart, only six escaped… Wait, why are there only four here?”

Nangong frowned slightly, staring at the ships.

Four massive, silent celestial ships drifted side by side, a clear gap between them, as if one had been there before, but had disappeared after its death.

And even so… one was still missing.

Each of the nine celestial ships was built with unimaginable resources, even a single one would require the combined resources of several factions today.

Such important artifacts couldn’t just disappear.

“Let’s go take a closer look… I want to confirm something.”

Luo Xue said softly. Under Nangong’s protection, some color returned to her face, no longer as pale.

Nangong nodded slightly, then lifted Luo Xue and carried her towards the Wandering Celestial Ships.

As they traveled, Nangong also brought the Sea of Withering with them, a feat Luo Xue couldn’t achieve.

In just a few breaths, after a momentary disorientation, Nangong brought Luo Xue beneath the Wandering Celestial Ships.

“…”

The oppressive presence of these behemoths was beyond words. Luo Xue looked up, unable to even see the top of their masts.

Nangong didn’t stop. She wasn’t familiar with the Wandering Celestial Ships either. After searching for a while, she finally found the entrance and brought Luo Xue inside.

Luo Xue stood on this ship, which had sailed the Primordial Chaos, looked at the familiar-looking entrance, and sighed deeply.

“As expected…”

It was almost identical to Immortal Slaughter.

Luo Xue pushed the door open, and the first thing she saw was a massive formation, but its nodes were broken, its core withered, no longer operational.

But she still recognized it. It was the same as the formations on Immortal Slaughter.

Of course, this wasn’t the core formation of the Wandering Celestial Ship, just a small, auxiliary formation, but compared to Immortal Slaughter, this auxiliary formation was even more sophisticated.

This showed the level of mastery achieved by the formation masters of the ancient era. It was a pity that all of this was lost after the great tribulation.

However… it was now certain that Immortal Slaughter came from the Wandering Celestial Ships.

Not that Immortal Slaughter was based on them, but that Immortal Slaughter itself was a part of the Wandering Celestial Ships.

All the Immortal Slaughter ships Dugu Di possessed came from these dead celestial ships.

“Could it be that because I’m about to discover this truth, Dugu Di wants to silence me?” Luo Xue thought, then quickly dismissed this guess. “No, that’s impossible, there must be more to it.”

Many factions had speculated about Dugu Di’s origins, and the Nangong clan, his closest ally, even knew about his and Immortal Slaughter’s origins. Just this wouldn’t be enough for him to send assassins, especially his most trusted guard, General Wei.

Luo Xue continued walking deeper into the ship, Nangong silently following, protecting her.

After passing through the initial control room, Luo Xue saw more formations. She couldn’t understand their functions, but they were far more advanced than anything in the current era, beyond even Li Guijiao’s level.

The formations on Immortal Slaughter were just simplified, downgraded versions.

“If Senior Sister Li were here, she would probably be glued to these…”

It was a pity that Senior Sister Li wouldn’t have the chance to see this.

Luo Xue smiled wryly, then walked past these formations, continuing deeper.

The areas she had passed through so far were the ship’s work areas. After all, the Wandering Celestial Ships weren’t weapons of war like Immortal Slaughter, but arks carrying tens of thousands of survivors through the Primordial Chaos. These work areas were just a small part of the ship.

However, what Luo Xue truly wanted to see hadn’t appeared yet. Her guess hadn’t been confirmed.

Nangong, seeing that Luo Xue seemed to be searching for something, asked,

“What are you looking for? Perhaps I can help.”

“…Yes, I’m looking for something.” Luo Xue said softly, “But… sorry, you probably can’t help.”

Because she wasn’t looking for a specific object, but to see if what she saw within the celestial ship matched her guess.

Finally, after passing through the work areas, Luo Xue reached an area protected by various sealing formations, but these formations were also inactive, and Luo Xue easily passed through this once-impenetrable barrier, entering the ship’s core.

More precisely, one of the ship’s cores. Such a massive vessel couldn’t possibly only have one.

Unlike the oppressive atmosphere of the work areas, this place felt open and spacious, but it was also filled with an aura of death and silence. Inactive control formations were scattered around, connected to a sealed central device in the middle.

Luo Xue’s breathing quickened, and she composed herself, stepped forward, and opened the central device.

The once indestructible outer shell had become fragile over time, and Luo Xue effortlessly opened it, revealing the true core within.

Looking at this core, Luo Xue was silent for a long time, then sighed deeply.

“…Did you find it?”

Nangong asked.

“I did.” Luo Xue said softly, taking out the core. “As expected… a disaster engine.”

Just as she had guessed, the final piece of the puzzle was in place.

The nine celestial ships were like enlarged versions of the Suspended High Towers of the post-apocalyptic world, even their core engines were the same.

Luo Xue hadn’t been able to find anything resembling a disaster engine on the smaller Immortal Slaughter ships because they were weapons of war, prioritizing efficient power, using highly concentrated energy sources like the command key.

As long-distance vessels, the nine celestial ships naturally couldn’t use such expensive energy sources. Like the Suspended High Towers, they used the energy within the Primordial Chaos for their endless journey, theoretically even becoming a new civilization, similar to the world fragments.

But perhaps due to the ships’ imperfections, or perhaps because they encountered some disaster, of the six celestial ships that escaped the great tribulation, four were destroyed, and the whereabouts of the other two were unknown.

Actually, regarding the missing ship among the four, Luo Xue already had a guess: it was probably Dugu Di’s home.

Wei clearly knew about the nine celestial ships, and Immortal Slaughter was related to them. Luo Xue wouldn’t believe that Dugu Di had nothing to do with them.

As for whether this missing celestial ship was still sailing, or had been destroyed somewhere, Luo Xue didn’t know.

And as for the last, unknown ship…

“Perhaps… it’s the previous civilization of the post-apocalyptic world, the cultivators trapped within the world fragment.”

This could explain why the Suspended High Towers’ disaster engines were so sophisticated, unlike anything from a lower-level world.

“Is it as you guessed?”

Nangong asked, seeing Luo Xue staring at the damaged core in silence.

“Yes.”

Luo Xue replied softly.

“That’s good, you’ve found your answer.”

Nangong nodded. She didn’t care what truth Luo Xue was seeking, only whether she had achieved her goal.

Perhaps… this was the last thing this little girl could do.

As the quarter of an hour approached, Nangong’s consciousness began to fade. She sat there quietly, looking at Luo Xue, her gaze gentle and soft.

Luo Xue put down the disaster engine and, seeing Nangong’s appearance, instantly understood what she meant by “a quarter of an hour.”

However, before she could speak, Nangong said softly,

“There’s no need to be sad for me, Luo Xue. I’m already dead, you just gave me a bit more time. Seeing my past regrets resolved, I’m content.”

“But, Senior…”

Luo Xue wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“You should worry about yourself, and I… should feel guilty for you.” A hint of sadness flickered in Nangong’s eyes. “After I disappear, your soul and body will lose their balance and start to collapse, but… I can’t do anything about that.”

“Embarking on the ultimate Dao means being accompanied by the end. No living being can truly merge with it, not even Phoenix Venerable and the Phoenix Emperor. One had to be sacrificed for the other to survive.”

“…Huh?”

Luo Xue was stunned.

“Didn’t she tell you?” Nangong looked at the dormant purple bird beside Luo Xue. “Sorry, I’ve overstepped, but since I’ve said this much, I’ll tell you a bit more.”

“The Phoenix Emperor chose to die for Phoenix Venerable. If both existed, withering and immortality, being incompatible, would eventually destroy each other. One would completely dominate the Law of Ending, and the other would be annihilated, without a trace.”

“…”

Luo Xue was silent, looking at the purple bird.

So this was the reason for the Phoenix Emperor’s death. But because of her personality, she had never admitted it, even refusing to see her sister.

And Phoenix Venerable had guarded the Sea of Withering for countless years, waiting for an impossible answer.

“What’s happening to your current body… is the same. Withering and immortality are destroying each other, but no matter which one wins, you, as their battlefield, can’t survive.”

Nangong sighed deeply. “Unfortunately… if my consciousness could last longer, I could maintain the balance, but now… it’s up to you.”

She didn’t mention relying on miracles, because even miracles couldn’t contend with the power of the ultimate Dao.

Nangong’s shadow gradually faded, her consciousness reaching its limit.

In her final moments, Nangong looked towards the distance, towards the nine provinces and four domains in the Primordial Chaos.

Her greatest comfort was that her final act of protection had preserved a spark of hope.

As the blood-red shadow dissipated, the last trace of Nangong, the ancestor of the Nangong clan, the master of the nine provinces and four domains, the War God of the ancient era, finally vanished.