Chapter 1334
Not the Beginning of the End, but the End of the Beginning
Ai Huasi originally wanted to do something.
Unfortunately…
Under the eccentric presiding of the “Ring Heavenly Envoy,” Ai Huasi nowadays couldn’t even see what his mission objective was. He had no objective, so naturally, he wouldn’t know which direction to strive for.
The only thing that could console Ai Huasi was the time ratio of one to ten thousand.
Ai Huasi entered the Ascension Ritual at time zero. Even if he spent seven or eight years inside, only a day would have just dawned outside.
This meant that Ai Huasi’s room for error was still quite high, so he didn’t need to rush for the time being.
Moreover, if his mindset wavered even once, it would be equivalent to providing a loophole for the Void.
Thus, Ai Huasi calmed his heart and peacefully experienced this other life.
If Ai Huasi’s life there was one of extreme busyness, then this place was one of leisurely idleness.
Ai Huasi had something to do almost every day. The tasks he set for himself could even be scheduled for two months later. And when he had a little free time, something unexpected would immediately happen, or someone would come looking for trouble.
From the day Ai Huasi summoned the Shadow Demon until this Ascension Ritual, he had never truly relaxed. Only Isabel could make his taut nerves rest for a while, briefly escaping the crisis of world’s end and the endless stream of enemies.
This Ascension Ritual, rather than being an assessment… was more like a rare vacation.
After all, he was a transmigrator, which meant that the current “Ai Shiping” had no home to return to.
Since he didn’t need to return to the Sea or rejoin his clan… Ai Huasi could follow the Father of Snakes everywhere.
Having an extra playmate who could accompany him made the Father of Snakes very happy.
He pulled Ai Huasi and flew all over the world—
In this era, the part of the Southern Continent connected to the “Star Antimony Kingdom” had not yet sunk into the sea; the natural barrier here was still a thoroughfare.
Avalon in this era was much larger than before, and it was almost connected to the land of the Church… These two lands were now wastelands, with no traces of civilization.
In this World, there were no Elves, no Giants, no Dwarves. There weren’t even any monsters in the wastelands. As far as the eye could see, there were not even a few plants. There were no weeds or wildflowers on the ground, but there were some exceptionally giant trees, sparsely dotting the wastelands.
The Father of Snakes pulled Ai Huasi to a lonely island in the depths of the Sea, watching how the tides swallowed and then spat it out.
The Father of Snakes then pulled Ai Huasi to the North and South Poles, watching the thick ice caps. Their covered area was even larger than the area covered by the “globe” in Ai Huasi’s memory.
After that, the Father of Snakes also pulled Ai Huasi to fly towards the Sun—
—At first, Ai Huasi was still a little worried and afraid.
He instinctively was accustomed to the Veil of Equilibrium and the Amber Wall, but he forgot that those things did not exist in this era.
They flew straight toward the scorching Sun and passed right through it!
When passing through the Sun, Ai Huasi did not feel a fatal heat, but vaguely sensed a somewhat chaotic intellectual consciousness.
That was the oldest Sun God of this World, the Second Sun, Taiyi.
Why was Taiyi the Second Sun?
Ai Huasi soon understood.
Because when he flew out of the Sun with the Father of Snakes, he saw a spectacle he had never seen before—
It was the vast universe, the solar system he was extremely familiar with.
The giant sun on the horizon transmitted its heat here, making it seem so Ice Cold. The planet beneath their feet had darkened to the point of being almost invisible. It felt like looking in through those privacy-frosted car window glass.
And every planet in the solar system had now turned into ruins. They clearly had signs of life, but now they were empty.
The Father of Snakes, with pride like presenting a treasure, took Ai Huasi to the various planets.
The unmanned automated factories still operating empty, the shattered teleportation arrays, the half-built spaceships, the mirror-like devices that looked like solar power panels, the towering yet collapsed towers.
This was the “truth” that shocked Ai Huasi immensely.
“—This is the World we once lived in.”
The Father of Snakes transmitted information to Ai Huasi with his thoughts. It was not any language, but directly conveyed complete information that was not diminished by words— accompanied by heavy emotions.
It was regret, sadness, loneliness, solitude…
It was also pride, joy, confidence, determination.
No wonder…
Ai Huasi suddenly understood.
This unique “telepathy” ability of the Winged One race was convenient for survival and communication in the universe.
When they looked up from these planets towards Earth, they found that it had completely disappeared—as if it were invisible, completely undetectable by the naked eye.
“Unless there was a hole in it, it should have been completely invisible,”
The Father of Snakes looked in the direction of Earth and said with some regret.
“It’s just a pity… it was pierced through from the inside by a Twilight Seed. This way, it can be detected from outer space.”
They spent about a year traveling all over the solar system.
When the two feathered serpents passed through the Sun again and returned to Earth… the land had already gained some vitality.
They went to see the Winged Ones.
Whether it was golden giant birds, strange insects like butterflies, or Winged Ones with human-like forms, they were all Winged Ones. The latter also had strange branches such as “bird-headed” and “bird-bodied.”
This should have been caused by errors and confusion in the decompression of information from the Sin Thorns.
At this time, the Sky-Piercing Tower was nearing completion, and the Hourglass was teaching the newborn Winged Ones shame, teaching them to weave clothes for themselves with spells.
Ai Huasi saw a seemingly familiar figure from afar among the Winged Ones’ community. He seemed to worship the Hourglass immensely, with a sparkle in his eyes.
That was not Lucifer.
…That seemed to be the Wing Heavenly Envoy.
But the two feathered serpents did not land.
They also went to see Those with scales.
Although he was the King of Those with scales, Ai Huasi did not command the race like Lucifer or the Wing Heavenly Envoy.
He just made an appearance to tell Those with scales—they now had a king!
After all, the differences among These with scales were even greater than among Winged Ones.
Some of them resembled mermaids, some resembled mermen. There were also lizardmen, or giant crocodiles… Even the vast majority were ancient fish that had not gained sentience, living chaotically in the Sea. Those that climbed ashore were basically dim-witted.
Unlike Winged Ones, who could exist just by basking in the Sun— Those with scales ate each other.
The stronger ate the weaker, the smarter ate the more foolish. Those with scales that came ashore began to prey on and devour those that had not yet come ashore.
—This was the birth of the Path of “Hunting” and “Eating,” and its impact on this World.
They did not have the “telepathy” ability to communicate telepathically like Winged Ones, nor did they have a unified language. The prototype languages of each tribe were completely independent… Ai Huasi had no interest in teaching a group of barbarians and beasts, so he left with the Father of Snakes.
The Father of Snakes even took Ai Huasi to see the Sky Devouring Giant Beast Nibiru—a terrifying monster burning with flames all over its body.
It looked like a Giant Bear, but had a human face. Its body was covered with protective scales, and it had a thick and powerful tail.
It wandered across the rocky wastelands, devouring everything it saw.
And a mysterious hunter constantly challenged the Sky Devouring Giant Beast—His appearance was very handsome, looking like both a man and a woman. He held a shield made of ice, and also a great bow that could condense water into ice. A giant crocodile followed him.
This was a war between fire and water.
Their battle constantly destroyed the entire surrounding World. Everything affected by it perished… The hunter constantly failed, and constantly fled. Soon, he constantly grew stronger, and constantly returned.
These mortal enemies were intertwined, fixing each other in the center of this vast and desolate continent, and quite far from the Sky-Piercing Tower.
—So that’s how early Ah Huan descended into this World!
Ai Huasi was also amazed by this secret.
He finally had the chance to ask the Father of Snakes the question he had been pondering for a long time: “Why did you create Nibiru to fight that person? Is your conflict with Zhuanxu that great?”
“Nai Si?”
The Father of Snakes replied softly, “You should have heard this name.”
“…I’ve heard many different meanings,” Ai Huasi replied vaguely.
Perhaps it was due to his extreme gaming addiction, but his first reaction to the word was “Good gun!” or “Good shot!”, not Occult or mythological archetypes…
“The ancient Egyptian God of Hunting—Zhuanxu gave her this name to bestow this divinity upon her. Names have power… When you understand this principle, you should be able to become one of us.”
The Father of Snakes said, looking at Ai Huasi.
He said firmly, “Besides this, we created them for another reason… that is, I need to obtain the Sacred Number Eight.
“I want to establish an iron rule: this World must constantly develop.
“You will all eventually be stronger than me. You must be stronger than me. Although this World only has eight Origin Rivers, I hope it can become nine, ten—or even a hundred, a thousand in the future.”
“Eight Origin Rivers…”
Ai Huasi murmured, “What about the original civilization? How many Origin Rivers did the original civilization have?”
“Eight.”
The Father of Snakes turned his head and looked at the sun, “Up to now, Zarvan has reopened the blocked Origin Rivers. In our era, when we discovered the Origin Rivers, there were only eight.
“Creation, Difference, Civilization, Truth, Order, Continuation, Power, Easier— these are the elements that make up everything in the World. In the past era, after Difference came Power, and it was after gaining Power that Civilization emerged; after Order came Easier.
“At that time, the Sacred Number for Easier was 7, and for Truth it was 8. But after Truth, we exhausted everything and could not create another Origin River—because we had obtained the final answer.
“It was this answer that led us to the sea of stars… and it was also this answer that buried our civilization.
“We wanted to create the Origin River of ‘Perfection,’ but after exhausting all our efforts… we obtained ‘Error.’ It was this error that ultimately led to destruction. That’s why I want to obtain the Sacred Number Eight—to reopen the limit of Origin Rivers myself.
“I think the fundamental reason why Origin Rivers could not be opened was that by the time we discovered the Origin Rivers, our civilization had already completely solidified. And now, all eight Origin Rivers have been unblocked, and civilization is still in its embryonic stage… There is no better time for change than now.”
As the “God of Easier” of the new civilization, the Father of Snakes looked at the Sun and said slowly, “Not only the Origin Rivers… I also want the culture, technology, morality, and power of this World to return to the old era. In this respect, Zhuanxu and I have the same opinion.
“—Only, I believe that even if this step is reached, it is not the end, but just a beginning. It’s not even the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.”
With that, the giant feathered serpent lowered its body and affectionately nestled beside Ai Huasi, “You are my successor, Ai Shiping.
“In our civilization, a person has many labels. For example, the son of someone, the grandson of someone. Those are proofs that great beings have left traces in this World.
“I hope you can surpass me, Ai Shiping. I don’t want you to be the ‘son of Xi’; I want to be the ‘Father of Snakes.’
“—I hope that the Ninth Origin River, which was destroyed, can be opened by your own hands. I don’t care if it’s an error or perfect… I just know that if the World stops at the pursuit of [Truth], it may seem to have obtained all mysteries, but in reality, it is no different from death.
“Even if it’s an error… an error can give this World a direction to make amends, a possibility to correct mistakes! It’s better than stagnation! I think perhaps after that unforgivable error lies miracles and hope—”
“…I will,”
Ai Huasi said slowly, looking at the Father of Snakes’ dazzling, shining eyes.
At this moment, the entire World suddenly slowed down, turned sallow, and finally froze completely.
“Yes, you will. Just like I answered back then.”
A mocking voice sounded slowly.
That was indeed the voice of the Ring Heavenly Envoy. It was also Ai Huasi’s own voice.
But Ai Huasi believed that it was definitely not the real Ai Shiping.
—It must be the “Void,” speaking through the body of the Ring Heavenly Envoy.
“—But our pitiful little snake does not yet know—that the hope in his eyes now, the miracle in his heart, is precisely the ‘first cause’ that triggered all destruction.”
The Whisper of the Void said sarcastically.
The next moment, time flowed rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, this mind theater, which had sealed the contaminated memories, arrived at the next scene.
(End of this chapter)
