This song-form epic poem themed around Xianzhou history describes the magnificent life of the historical hero Reignbow.

[Source Text]

Ode to the Reignbow Path [✝1]

Anonymous

You have not seen the Cangcheng full of Langgan, consumed by the planet of sentient evil, standing firm till the end
You have not seen the Yuanqiao covered in Bigui, sailing on a path of no return. To the crimson star it rends.
You have not seen the Daiyu verdant with Shatang, plummeting like a hurtling flame, burnt like lamp oil spent.[✝2]
You have not seen the tumultuous journey in the bowels of space, where human and stars alike are transient as reeds.
In the beginning, when the world was new, the wastelands to our ancestors did attend.
Where nations warred amongst forts, where the plain cavalry's banners did suspend.
The wise sovereign quelled the local lords. Using Aurumatons, did deceit cease and mend.
All cardinal directions were ruled under one. A world unifed, standing unbent.[✝3]
The divine race encroached and covered the sky. From Muldrasil poured these fiends.[✝4]
Then cruisers and dreadnaughts launched to the depths. To Sanctus Medicus, crossing eons, messengers we send.[✝5]
Amongst the Nine was one Yaoqing, its delves had many heroes attend.
The greatest among them was the Reignbow. With their bow, even stars may rend.
From the budding shores where ambers are plucked, to the stellar abyss where void whales fend.[✝6]
From puppets disempowered by iron mallets, to slaying viscorpi and having their flags upend.[✝7]
Flames of war snuffed from the five Navium Astriger, mists of memory on the eight Xianzhou ships' rivers ascend.[✝8]
Remember how sovereign ruled the ancient lands, yet the mighty Reignbow none may contend.

[Editor's Notes]

[✝1] This poem is in the ode form, a genre which uses free verse rhyme and meter, flexible structure, and often uses words like “Ode” in their title. For ease of reading and due to the length of the poem, the editors had split this work into sections based on progression of the narrative.

[✝2] Langgan, Bigui, and Shatang are all mystic trees found in primeval imperium legends, with trunks made of jade and bearing fruits that grant immortality. The Daiyu, the Yuanqiao, and the Cangcheng are all Xianzhou ships that have been destroyed. The Daiyu exploded in 1200 Star Calendar during the campaign against the viscorpi, a Denizen of Abundance race. The Yuanqiao lost control during the Civil War in 3200 Star Calendar, plunging into a red giant and disappearing completely. The Cangcheng was devoured by the activated planet Rahu, Devourer of Worlds, in 6300 Star Calendar. This suggests that the ode was composed after 6300 Star Calendar, but it's also possible that later authros have amended the original.

[✝3] This section describes the glorious days when the unnamed sovereign united the entire planet during the Primeval Imperium Age of the Xianzhou Alliance. “Replacement by Aurumaton” refers to the story of the sovereign's ban on all forms of weaponry and replacing security institutions with Aurumatons and Ingenia to maintain public order.

[✝4] “The divine race” means the Wingweavers, one of the Denizens of Abundance races. Muldrasil is this race's home world, a planet-sized giant tree that draws energy from the stars. Here, we can see that the Denizens of Abundance had made contact with various Xianzhou clans as early as the Primeval Imperium Age.

[✝5] “Sanctus Medicus” is the Plagues Author, one who presides over the Path of Abundance. Today, this title is mainly reserved for the henchmen of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.

[✝6] “From the budding shores where ambers are plucked” refers to when the Xianzhou observed the Celestial Comet Wall being built by the Aeon Qlipoth. “Where void whales fend” refers to the Xianzhou Alliance coming into contact with the void song whales around 500 Star Calendar. This event should have happened before “ambers are plucked,” but the poet inverted their order for linguistic flow. Also, based on historical records, the Reignbow Arbiter was born in approximately 1700 Star Calendar, and could not possibly have participated in the aforementioned events. This is evidently a misappropriation. This occurs repeatedly in the text from here on, and individual instances will not be noted further.

[✝7] “Puppets disempowered by iron mallets” refers to the Xianzhou people wresting control of the ships from the Aurumatons, starting around 1400 Star Calendar and finishing with the Heliobi Wars. “Slaying Viscorpi” recounts the Xianzhou's battle against the viscorpi around 1200 Star Calendar.

[✝8] The “five Navium Astriger” and the “eight Xianzhou ships” are figurative, used to represent the entire flotilla of the Xianzhou Alliance. This is not an actual count.

[Source Text]

In multitude, the Xianzhou piloted the Gloomy Hare. In solitude, the Xianzhou drove the Golden Crow.[✝1]
In destiny, they met the homeless floating flames, not knowing that the heliobi was a poisonous woe.
They can trick without words on paper. They can please without poetry or song.
Know that illusions are but dreams, and careful to feed demons your joys or tears.[✝2]
The Reignbow perceived like a piercing light. Their bow-arm bent, ready to deal a warring blow.
The flaming demons did a red star make, deployed as bait as their fears grew.[✝3]
Two thousand volunteers laid aside their lives. Their bones shall remain on the Navis Astriger, such was the vow.
Disassembling a centerguard engine to recast as a drill. With human flesh as its handle, forward they flew.[✝4]
Diving deep into the innards of the Flint Emperor, a thundering explosion the heavenly pavilions did feel.[✝5]
Instantly did the light fade and the star's essence die, the dimming red with its residual lifespan swallowed.[✝6]
Pushing forward to capture the fae fire, we the demono sealed. Forced to nurture the Xianzhou onward it rowed.[✝7]

[Editor's Notes]

[✝1] In the legends of the Primeval Imperium, the moon was a “Gloomy Hare,” while the sun was a “Golden Crow.” This refers to the Reignbow (the Xianzhou fleet) sailing across the cosmos.

[✝2] Historical records describe heliobi as a species of formless energy creatures that can absorb human emotion and influence behaviors.

[✝3] “Red star” here refers to the red micro-star formed by the heliobi to capture the Xianzhou fleet.

[✝4] The Primeval Imperium's literature had stated, “the frontline is called the vanguard, and behind them stands the centerguard.” “Centerguard” refers to the auxiliary engines of the Xianzhou Yaoqing. This line refers to how the suicide squad, led by the Reignbow, disassembled and weaponized the ship's auxiliary engines to fight the heliobi.

[✝5] “Heavenly pavilions” refers to the “Skyward Pavilions neighborhood” residential area aboard the Xianzhou Luofu. Another possible interpretation is the Divination Commission's “Cloud Pavilion.” It indicates how widespread the shockwave was felt.

[✝6] Historical recors show that the Xianzhou's suicide squad sent the weaponized auxiliary engine straight into the red star formed by the heliobi, causing it to undergo early decay and implode into a black hole. This line is the first in the history of Xianzhou literature to describe this process.

[✝7] Based on records, the Xianzhou residents locked up the defeated heliobi leader, the Flint Emperor, sentencing them to serve as the power source for the Xianzhou Zhuming for the rest of their eternal life.

[Source Text]

In thriving, the Xianzhou piloted the Ice Toad. In meticulous care, the Xianzhou drove the Six Dragons.[✝1]
The vast fleet sailed through time and space, and the title of Heaven's Mast a ship had humbly taken.[✝2]
Many miracles the divine blessing conducted, blurring reality with myth. True liberation.
Elevated, the wild horses in eloquence spoke, and Xianzhou's fog and clouds to words hearken.[✝3]
The jade abacus carefully was wrought, calculating all mysteries. The world reduced to a deliberation.
The Reignbow merged with the jade, seeking epiphany, and the Wisdomwalker in dreams showed premonition.[✝4]
Yet everlasting prosperity and wisdom Reignbow did not see. There would be fields of corpses, blood soaken.
Crippled, defiled, unending agony. Maddened, mutated, total forgetfulness, never to waken.[✝5]
The Reignbow bounded with futile warnings, but was thought mad against diviners, mocked in derision.[✝6]
Then the poor and nobles joined forces against the Reignbow. In scorn, ridicule, pity, or lamentation.
Reignbow in a rage scolded the nobles, calling greed for immortality as foolish as the ancient sovereign's obsession.[✝7]
The arbor branches were mere axles to the war chariot, and the Reignbow's fleeting arrow found the divine plantation.
Turning, the Reignbow released their flashing arrow to a tree, and fear and horror in human hearts stricken.
Yet exiled to cold coffins for long watchful sleep, this warrior of yesteryear all forgotten.[✝8]

[Editor's Notes]

[✝1] The people of the Primeval Imperium once believed that the Moon was an “ice toad,” while the Sun was “six dragons.” This refers to Reignbow (and the Xianzhou) sailing across the cosmos.

[✝2] “A ship” refers to the Xianzhou Luofu, indicating that it was the highest-ranked ship in the Alliance. “Heaven's Mast” refers to the Ambrosial Arbor. This is describing how the seeds of the Ambrosial Arbor took root aboard the Xianzhou Luofu. However, the Xianzhou Luofu only became the flagship of the Alliance after receiving the Ambrosial Arbor. Here the sequence is reverted, probably out of artistic license.

[✝3] The people of the Primeval Imperium used “wild horses”, “fog”, and “clouds to refer generally to clouds, air, and dust. The structure of this sentence is inverted, with the gist being “even clouds and dust grew eloquent through the Ambrosial Arbor's Elevation.” According to historical records, the Xianzhou experimented with the Arbor's fruit, “Elevating” animals to the point of mimicking human sentience and speech. The line is probably referring to this event.

[✝4] The motif of “merged with the jade” originated when the sage Xuan Yao embedding the jade abacus directly into the human skull to peer into the future. This is evidently a misappropriation. The “Wisdomwalker” is the one who presides over the Path of Erudition.

[✝5] “Crippled”, “defiled”, “maddened”, “mutated”, and “forgetfulness” are the five symptoms of being mara-struck. “Crippled” means that, after suffering grave injuries from external violence, the body must utilize its self-healing capacities to undergo long and painful periods of repair. “Defiled” means that, due to the immortality of the flesh for the Xianzhou people, the body may be forced to eternally co-exist with incurable alien viruses or bacteria. “Maddened” means the person starts to feel anger and violent desires, and starts to have extreme mood swings. “Mutated” means the flesh is starting to produce mutated organs and can no longer maintain a stable humanoid form. “Forgetfulness” means the person's mind is taken over by a sense of emptiness, and spends their days in an oblivious daze. This section describes how, after the Reignbow became one with the jade, they saw the tragic future of the Xianzhou residents, where the people became mara-struck due to their immortality.

[✝6] “Made against Diviners” originates from a Xianzhou folk legend about a person who believed the Ambrosial Arbor to be an alien monstrosity. Opposed to longevity, they feigned madness to publicly express their ardent opinion. Here, “Diviners” generally refers to the Xianzhou aristocrats, and can be extended to include the Arbor's fruit, as the aristocrats were the first Xianzhou residents to receive the sacred fruit.

[✝7] “Ancient sovereign's obsession” refers to the nameless sovereign who united the Primeval Imperium. The Reignbow believed that the Xianzhou residents were blinded by the seduction of an endless lifespan and were no different from the nameless sovereign's rapacious fear of death. This drove Reignbow furious.

[✝8] This section describes the Reignbow's opposition to immortality, and how they shot an arrow into the Ambrosial Arbor to show their resolve. The Xianzhou aristocrats who had eaten the fruit of immortality grew enraged and convicted them. However, awed by the Reignbow's heroic exploits and prestige, they could only sentence the hero to continual hibernation. “Watchful sleep” refers to the rotating cryo-sleep system used when the Xianzhou Alliance first left its home world. “Cold coffins” are the cryo-sleep pods.