Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
150. I Refuse To Leave Any Regrets in This Life

Jin Shu tossed Li Xue off his chest and stood, turning toward the stage where Biyu and Bing Hou were dueling. One hurled fireballs while the other launched spears of ice—yet both were cloaked in flames.

At first, he had found it strange—Bing Hou’s cold flame, her ability to control ice despite being a fire-qi cultivator. Only recently, after falling into that hidden realm and learning more about the elements, had he begun to understand. Things weren’t as simple as he’d once imagined.

It wasn’t that the fire element was fire. It was heat.

A memory from Gold’s world surfaced—something called the Laws of Thermodynamics. But Gold hadn’t been a scientist. He’d grown up in an orphanage, lived on the streets, and barely scraped by the military’s entry requirements. With his limited understanding, he couldn’t apply those laws exactly, but they helped shape his growing comprehension of how heat worked in this world.

He used to think that water froze simply when it got cold enough. That was still true—but now he realized it was heat, or rather the absence of it, that caused water to freeze. It wasn’t just cold. It was a specific temperature, a threshold where the water element present in the air condensed into ice.

For Bing Hou’s cold flame to function, it had to represent the opposite end of the fire element—negative heat. It likely contained traces of the water element as well. Without that, she wouldn’t be able to control the ice that formed.

As he watched the match, Li Xue picked herself up and stepped to his side.

“How long have they been fighting?” Jin Shu asked, eyes still on the arena.

“Not long. The fight had just started when I came to check on you.”

“Hm.” He nodded, watching the brilliant flashes of red and blue from their flames, and the rainbow lights glinting off Bing Hou’s ice.

Biyu conjured her triple phoenixes to counter the ice spears. The three fiery birds danced through the air, melting smaller spears with their heat and shattering the larger ones before they could reach her. All the while, Biyu was already channeling her next technique.

Bing Hou remained as calm as a frozen lake. She conjured her cold flame with practiced ease, using it to freeze the water element in the air into ice spears, then hurled them across the stage with precise control.

Jin Shu watched, fully engrossed—until a voice whispered in his ear.

“Shu, now that you’re healed,” came Sun Mei’er’s voice, soft and familiar, “come join us back up here.”

He looked up at the elders’ platform above the spectators’ stands. His mother was leaning over the railing, waving with a bright smile. But in her eyes, behind the warmth, he saw the worry.

I made her worry. I really shouldn't be so reckless next time, he thought, guilt creeping in.

He waved back, then turned to Li Xue. “Let’s go.”

She shot him a glare. “I still haven’t forgiven you.” Her expression softened into a sly grin. “But… I’ve decided on my revenge.”

She laughed mischievously and skipped ahead.

Jin Shu shook his head, gave the duel one last glance, then caught up to her.

“Mind sharing what your revenge entails?"

“Hmm?” She tapped her chin, feigning thought. “You said you wanted me to stay with you even when you became the most powerful man in the world… but then you took it back. So, I’ve decided to stick to you like glue—even if you become the most powerless man in the world.”

She shot him a smug look. “Scared yet? Too bad—you’re stuck with me for life.”

“Sure,” he said without hesitation. “How about you, Biyu, Tian Li, and I all get married? We’ll become Dao companions, and we can have the ceremony after this competition.”

He said it like he meant it—because he did.

She gave him a blank stare, clearly too shocked to respond. But Jin Shu’s mind had already drifted elsewhere.

Long Jinshu’s voice still echoed in his thoughts: Don’t leave any regrets.

But he was already accumulating too many. And before he could lose something—or someone—truly important again, he would rather take hold of it all now.

In every lifetime, one thing remained the same: he sought love… and always lost it.

Long Jinshu had yearned for his mother’s love—but she died, and he gave his life for hers. 

Gold had craved a family—and found one in the military, only to lose every brother-in-arms, before finally dying along with them.

So now, Jin Shu would seize what they had been denied. He would have both his mothers’ love, and he would build a family of his own. One he would protect with everything he had.

Even if a god descended, he would face them with a smoking gun.

…Not that his current arsenal could harm a god. Yet. But one day, even demons would tremble in fear before his weapons.

Until that day came, he would grow stronger. He would rise—so he would never again need to sacrifice everything in a mutually destructive blaze.

He placed a hand over his heart, making a vow.

As the vow settled within him, a warmth stirred beneath his palm—where the unity rune lay—and something shifted in his mind.

He blinked, surprised. He didn’t know what had changed… only that something deep within had grown…?

I still don’t understand this rune…

“Ah!” 

Li Xue’s sudden shout snapped Jin Shu out of his thoughts.

Her voice turned heads. The nearby spectators looked their way, curious.

“What are you shouting about?”

“You! You can’t just say something like that so casually!”

He chuckled. “Tian Li said the same thing.”

“Of course she did! There’s no romantic mood. There has to be a romantic mood!” She jabbed a stern look up at him. “No! You have to ask again, properly. With feeling. Or that will be my answer.”

Then, with a dramatic huff, she turned on her heel and marched up the stairs without so much as a backward glance.

“She’s fun to mess with,” he laughed quietly, before following her to the platform where his mothers and Tian Li were waiting.

He had been worried Tian Li might’ve been too injured to remain, but to his relief, she looked stable—if clearly battered. The sleeves of her robes had been removed, exposing bruised and swollen arms.

It made sense. She’d blocked the club with her limbs to protect her head and torso.

Looking further down the seats, he spotted Ling Shi. Her condition looked worse—her left arm hung limp by her side, too damaged to even rest on the armrest of her chair.

Strange, he thought. I nearly crippled myself… but I’m in better shape than either of them.

Given the severity of his injuries, he should’ve been bedridden. Yet he was walking fine, hardly in pain.

He didn’t have to wonder for long.

“It seems Fan Biyu truly does possess the Life-Giving Jadeite Physique,” Chen Ai Yun said as he approached. “Seeing she was able to heal all of your wounds.”

“Pardon?” he asked, blinking. “Biyu healed me? Not Nurse Xiyue?”

“Yes,” she replied with a nod. “While Xi Yue is our finest healer, she’s not a miracle worker. The state you were in would’ve required a divine physician to fix. Fortunately, Fan Biyu used her physique to mend your worst injuries. Pills and medicine handled the rest.”

“I see… Wait, does that mean Biyu wasted her qi on me? Then what about…?” He turned, eyes flicking back to the duel below.

“Biyu is going to lose,” his mother said calmly.

“Oh…” He didn’t know what to say to that—or what to feel.

Should he be grateful she healed him? Or guilty that she’d thrown away her chance at victory for his sake?

“You can thank her by giving Liu Hua a nice beating,” his mother added, her voice a whisper in his mind.

He gave her a blank look. How the hell am I supposed to do that?

Sure, he wanted to—badly. But realistically? The best he could hope for was landing a lasting wound or two. A full-on victory over Liu Hua? Not happening. Not now.

She was just too strong.

In fact, he wasn’t even sure his mom could beat her. Sun Mei’er was powerful, but her spirit and its difficulties held her back.

And now that he thought about it… he’d never seen Liu Hua summon her spirit.

That was bad. Very bad.

The realization sent a chill down his spine. If she was this strong without using her spirit, then he had completely underestimated her.

“What? Scared?” Li Xue teased, a devilish grin on her lips. “You’re gonna get your ass kicked.”

“I’ll kick yours if you don’t settle down,” he shot back, raising a fist.

Li Xue yelped and ducked behind his mother. “Momma, he’s threatening your daughter’s life! Save me!”

“You—she’s my—!” He caught himself, remembering he was still in disguise, and sighed in defeat. “Fine. You win…”

She smirked in triumph.

“If you two are done quarreling,” Chen Ai Yun said, tone dry, “the match is about to end.”

Jin Shu turned his gaze back toward the arena, just in time to see Biyu and Bing Hou’s battle building toward its climax.