Chapter 571
Eivass’s Past Life Name
After exchanging greetings, Pure White departed.
The ritual section that followed was not suitable for her to witness. However, she had mentioned as she left that this was the most powerful and the oldest Cardinal Bishop in the Church, and Eivass could completely trust him.
Cardinal Cyril sat at the center of the Ritual Array without moving.
Yet, he manipulated the materialized wind and water, completely removing Eivass’s clothes and piling them in a corner of the room.
Under his control, the Ritual Array in the room changed rapidly. Like a meticulously complex machine, the gears inside spun, driving the system… The Ritual Array drawn with pigments moved freely on the floor. Roughly a quarter of it combined to form a new array, merging into the existing old system.
Watching Eivass stare intently, Cardinal Cyril laughed heartily, “Want to learn?
“Unfortunately, I can’t teach you—because this isn’t Divine Art, nor High-Tier Divine Art. It’s a Mystical Art a friend from the Prime taught me when I was traveling. It’s called the ‘Wind Empress’s Secret Canon,’ a secret canon of the Wisdom, Transcendence, and Adaptation Paths, inherited from the legendary Prime Ritualist, the Wind Empress. Even if you knew the Prime Language, you wouldn’t have the suitable adaptability.”
Cardinal Cyril’s attitude towards Eivass was very friendly.
It was clear that his Transcendent Path level was far higher than Eivass’s, allowing him to see Eivass’s Transcendent Path level and thus know Eivass was also a Ritualist.
But Eivass soon realized that Cardinal Cyril’s kindness towards him far exceeded what a stranger who had met only once or twice should show.
“…Is it divination?”
“A part of it.”
Cardinal Cyril nodded heartily, “I saw that you will solve the difficulties facing the Church; and for the other part, it’s because I saw that while you are a Demon Scholar, you haven’t contracted the sin of Heavenly Demise—you will contract this great sin if you use your own kind as ritual materials.
“Not all Ritualists can learn High-Tier Divine Art before they start learning rituals, as I did. Because I learned High-Tier Divine Art, I know the secret of the sin of Heavenly Demise, and thus I was able to bypass this trap set by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
“And you, despite not knowing these things, constantly facing crisis and oppression, have chosen ‘morality’ over ‘benefit,’ walking the right path.”
Cardinal Cyril praised, “As a Transcendent, one must have the resolve to defy fate at all costs. And in such circumstances, you can still control yourself not to cross the line. This shows that you are a born hero, a divinely sent saint. Morality that remains new after enduring trials is certainly superior to morality that is perfectly protected.”
However, Eivass felt a bit awkward instead.
How to put it… He actually knew about the sin of Heavenly Demise, so he wasn’t as good as Cardinal Cyril was praising him for.
But he couldn’t explain, so he could only nod in agreement.
“It might take a while to complete High-Tier Divine Art alone. But the High-Tier Divine Art studies for this year haven’t started yet, and I still have quite a bit of time… I will complete your first ritual for you.”
As Cardinal Cyril spoke, the wind flowing in the air gently pressed the unclothed Eivass onto the ground.
The black runes that formed the ritual array moved onto Eivass like living things. With a slight, ant-like biting sensation, Eivass himself was assimilated into a part of the array.
They moved to form characters, composing prayer after prayer, connecting to the ring on Eivass’s chest, forming nine long rune chains. Then, within the ring on Eivass’s chest, Elven Language runes began to appear rapidly and weave into text.
It looked like a black sun, or a kaleidoscope splitting open from the center of his chest.
Ninefold chanting echoed in the air—whispers composed of the wind’s sound. The wind made sharp, indistinct noises as it passed through some decorations on the wall, and these were reshaped into words.
—And throughout the entire process, Cardinal Cyril used no ritual materials at all.
No need to draw arrays, no need to chant, no need to wait, no need for materials… To be able to do this means it must be some kind of Golden-tier Path Trait. It might even be multiple.
So the Church was hiding such a Grand Ritualist!
He looked as if he would die at any moment—traces of petrification and amber had spread to his face. His entire being was divided into two, yet he maintained a strange balance. As long as this balance was maintained, he would not die.
Eivass’s vision gradually darkened.
Suddenly, a rapid mobile phone ringtone woke him up.
It was the evolution theme song from Digimon in his childhood—he would normally wake up to this passionate music if he set an alarm clock.
But he usually didn’t set an alarm clock.
Only today was a special situation, so he set ten alarm clocks, each ringing one minute apart.
If none of the ten alarm clocks woke him, his roommate would wake him up fiercely.
…Wait, what alarm clock?
Eivass suddenly opened his eyes.
In an instant, he felt an absurd sense of unfamiliarity.
A soft bed, a mobile phone ringing beside the pillow. By the bed, there was no keyboard and mouse for his laptop, nor his Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones.
The leftover fried chicken from last night, and half-finished milk tea.
In a daze, he reached for his hair, only to feel short hair that he could barely grip. The slight pain made his brain crash for a moment.
While he was stunned, the evolution theme had already ended.
And one minute later, the passionate evolution theme rang out again.
But Eivass stared blankly at his phone, momentarily forgetting how to turn it off.
When the alarm rang for the third time, an angry voice suddenly came from outside:
“Ai Shiping, are you sick! Are you trying to evolve into an ultimateDigimon all at once!”
…Who is that?
Eivass stared blankly outside, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
…And who is Ai Shiping?
At this moment, the alarm ringtone suddenly became extremely slow and distorted.
Time seemed to slow down infinitely and freeze, the entire world tinged with a dim yellow filter. It looked like an old photograph.
“—You can’t remember, can you.”
Another voice slowly sounded.
At this time, the gaming chair beside Eivass’s bed slowly turned around.
At some point, a faceless figure dressed in a black suit sat on it.
Where the head should have been, there was only a sphere of silver-black, shimmering with iridescent radiance.
He was crossing his legs, his equally brilliant and dark hands interlocked on his knees.
“I say it’s been a long time since we last met, because we have met before;
“I say it’s our first meeting, because we are indeed meeting for the first time;
“I say I’ve heard of your great name… because I’ve known of your existence for a long time.”
It was a deep and rather magnetic voice.
Although Eivass couldn’t see the other’s expression, he felt as if the other person was smiling.
His dream-addled brain was so stiff it was difficult to operate, so Eivass just stared blankly at the other person speaking.
…It’s the Lord of Scales and Feathers.
Eivass suddenly remembered the other party’s identity.
At this time, the Lord of Scales and Feathers was still speaking slowly, “You come from another world, don’t you… This is your biggest secret.
“You haven’t told anyone this secret. Not Isabel, nor Yulia. Because in your memory, this world is just a game… and you are not ‘Eivass Moriarty.’
“—But is that really the case?”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers slowly stood up and stepped onto the ground.
As his black leather shoes touched the ground, the surrounding dreamscape dissolved and shattered.
The narrow apartment melted away in an instant, becoming a pitch-black river. Beneath him was a giant scale… the scale of the ‘Kunpeng’.
The distant sky showed an incredible purple-red spiderweb crack.
Within each crack was a sky of completely different colors. There were multiple suns and moons in the sky at the same time—at least seven or eight suns, five or six moons.
It was like televisions playing different programs, or surveillance feeds showing different times.
Each fragment showed a sky from a completely different time.
“Assassins hidden in shadows, hunters adapted to jungle environments, physicians who can concoct drugs and poisons, astrologers and prophets who can predict the future… What do these professions have in common?”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers turned around, raising his hands high as if to embrace the sky.
He said word by word, “This is one of the Nine Origin Rivers of the Dream Realm, the River of [Survival].
“It is not shameful for a person to change to survive. The weak naturally need to adapt to the environment, to nature, to the strong, to fate… And if one is strong, one can naturally change the environment, transform nature, control the weak, and alter fate. Therefore, I named it the Adaptation Path. To adapt oneself, or to make others adapt.”
Saying this, the Lord of Scales and Feathers turned around.
He reached out his hand and pulled up Eivass, who had fallen to the ground.
“Let’s talk about you, Eivass. I’ll only say one thing…
“—Do you remember the names of your parents in your past life? Do you remember the name of your screenwriter roommate?
“Why do you only remember memories related to ‘Ouroboros Ring’? Why are even the memories of ‘Ouroboros Ring’ vague and intermittent?
“And most crucially… before today, do you remember the name of your ‘past life’?”
This last question instantly struck Eivass like a thunderclap.
His pupils contracted and then dilated.
In that instant, Eivass understood.
But before he could answer, the Lord of Scales and Feathers spoke on his own:
“You are an abandoned one, Eivass.
“You are not Ai Shiping, nor that transmigrator… Your surname is not Ai, nor are you from Earth. You have been a person of this world from the very beginning. You are the old self abandoned by Him, the past life memories He severed. But in a sense, you are more like the original person than him… my old friend.
“You are the ‘Sacred Entity’ they speak of… You are indeed a fragment of a Heavenly Envoy.
“—You are the remains of [Reincarnation].”
(End of Chapter)
