The Life of a Necromancer as a Swashbuckler

Chapter 39: The Sword Realm Reopens

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t make head or tail of what she was saying. “Aoxiu is a fool. He knew full well that the other side’s capture of Annie was a trap, but he insisted on risking his life to save her. As he wished, he died.” The beautiful woman remained cold. “What happened to Annie? And what’s going on with me?” I was still full of questions. “I don’t know what happened to Annie. All I know is that the fact you can see me means Aoxiu is dead. Although Aoxiu was an idiot, he made preparations before saving Annie. He located my true form in advance and used the Soul-Splitting Technique to divide his own soul. Once his main body died, his split souls would be activated. You are one of those split souls, and I was placed within your soul back then to protect you.” The beautiful woman continued her explanation, still devoid of emotion. “Then who are you?” I asked again. “I don’t know who I am either. All I know is that my mission is to activate your soul, help you remember your true identity, and protect you when you’re in danger.” “Then why did you only emerge now? Where am I?” I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. “I still don’t know. The fragment is sealed by a powerful spell. Generally speaking, even after awakening, it’s difficult to recover past memories. But just now, there seemed to be a very violent impact from the outside world. The force of the impact was so strong that it actually broke the seal, which is why you were able to remember.” “I’m a necromancer?” I could hardly believe it. “It would be more accurate to say you used to be a necromancer. To be precise, you’re a fragment of the soul of a necromancer who is already dead.” The beautiful woman remained completely emotionless. “Then why did you suddenly appear just now?” I began to doubt the beautiful woman’s motives. “Because a tremendous danger has arisen. The seal has been completely broken, and I can no longer remain hidden. I must protect you. And before I protect you for the last time, I need to tell you the truth—and one final thing: go save Annie! That was the last message my host left for me,” the beautiful woman said emotionlessly. “Where are you going?” I felt that the only way to get to the bottom of this was to keep her here. “I’ll say it again: the seal has been broken by an external force, and I must carry out my final duty to protect you. All you need to remember is that you are Aoxiu, once the most powerful necromancer. Go save Annie—that is the final message,” the beautiful woman said coldly, her figure beginning to fade into nothingness as she spoke. “Wait, I still have questions.” I tried to grab her, only to discover she had no physical form; she vanished amid the distortion, and the ground beneath my feet suddenly began to collapse. I fell into the bottomless abyss along with it. “Nameless, Nameless, wake up!” As I was still falling into the abyss, waves of shouts echoed in my mind. The voice was so familiar—it was as if a hand had suddenly appeared, pulling me out of the bottomless abyss. Nameless is who? Am I Nameless? When Nameless slowly opened her eyes, she realized she was lying on the ground—she didn’t know when she’d ended up there—and her junior sister, Ake, was calling out to her with all her might. Nameless stared at Ake in a daze for a long time before realizing that “Nameless” was his own name. As if waking from a dream, he cried out, “Junior Sister!” “Master, Ming’er has woken up!” Ake reported to Master Xiaoyaozi with delight; it turned out that, at some point, Master Xiaoyaozi had also arrived at Nameless’s side. “That’s good. Quickly, take Nameless away from here!” Xiaoyaozi’s tone had never sounded so urgent. Only then did Nameless realize he was still inside the same cave as before. It seemed he had fainted immediately after touching the Mo Ming Sword. Now, the sword had vanished without a trace, but a vortex-like hole had appeared in the cave ceiling directly above where the sword had been, constantly swirling and sucking in the surrounding air. His master, Xiaoyaozi, was staring at the void with a look of anxiety on his face. This was the first time Nameless had ever seen Xiaoyaozi so tense. What was this void? Ake, strictly following her master’s orders, carried Nameless out of the cave. Nameless had intended to stall a little longer, but found himself completely drained of strength and could only let Ake carry him away. “Senior Sister, what is that void?” Nameless couldn’t help but ask as Ake carried him away. “I don’t know. Just now, I suddenly heard a strange sound coming from inside that hole. I ran over to check and found you, Junior Brother, already collapsed on the ground, with that void appearing right above your head. Then Master came in; upon seeing the void, he shouted ‘Sword Realm’ and told me to hurry and wake you up—and that’s when you got up.” Ake’s explanation was very straightforward. “Sword Realm?” Nameless felt like he’d heard that term before. Wasn’t that the place where the legendary figure of the Martial Arts World, Nameless, had gone? How could it have appeared again in Xiaoyao Valley? Nameless was deeply puzzled. Glancing at the sky, it still seemed to be afternoon—it appeared he hadn’t been unconscious for very long. What on earth had happened? Ake was carrying Nameless as they retreated deeper into the valley when they suddenly came face-to-face with someone they hadn’t seen in a long time. An air of grace and nobility washed over them—it was none other than their Senior Brother, Gu Yuntian. “Senior Brother, you’re back!” Ake and Nameless were both overjoyed to see Gu Yuntian, but he looked deeply anxious as he asked Nameless, “Junior Brother, are you all right?” “I’m fine—just feeling weak all over. Senior Brother, what’s going on?” It was the first time Nameless had ever seen Gu Yuntian so anxious, so he hurriedly asked. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Gu Yuntian exhaled deeply, then immediately uttered some strange words: “The Sword Realm has opened! Master Xian De’s prophecy is about to come true!” Wuming and Ake were both taken aback. What prophecy? But it was clear Gu Yuntian was in no mood to explain. After instructing Ake to make sure Nameless was hidden, he rushed off toward the cave. Ake and Nameless were even more confused, but since both their master and senior brother had given orders, they dared not disobey. They hurriedly hid in the safest spot in Xiaoyao Valley. They didn’t know how much time had passed, but just as the two of them were starting to go numb from hiding, a voice came from outside: “Junior Brother, Junior Sister, come out!” It was Gu Yuntian’s voice. So the two emerged from their hiding place and found it was indeed Gu Yuntian. He seemed to be in much better spirits, though his face still bore a look of exhaustion. “Are you both all right? Master has asked us to go to the main hall together for a meeting,” Gu Yuntian relayed Master Xiaoyaozi’s orders. So the three of them went to the hall together. Old Gu and Master Xiaoyaozi were already waiting there, both with grave expressions on their faces. Nameless and Ake didn’t know what was going on, but they sensed the situation must be serious, so they waited quietly for their Master’s instructions. “Ming’er, Ke’er, Xiaoyao Valley is very unsafe right now. You must leave as soon as possible. Ke’er, take Ming’er to Wudang Mountain—set out immediately!” Master Xiaoyaozi ordered. Ake naturally obeyed, but Nameless was curious and couldn’t help but ask, “Master, has some disaster struck? If the Xiaoyao Sect is in trouble, how can we be the first to flee?” Xiaoyaozi looked at Nameless with a mix of tenderness and resignation. “Nameless, this time it’s not about the Martial Arts World—it’s the reopening of the Sword Realm. The prophecy of the Venerable Xian De is about to come true.”