Chapter 1340
Eternal Samsara
The sun will eventually perish.
When Taiyi falls, the world plunges into eternal darkness.
But that—perhaps is not pure darkness.
In the sky, countless stars still twinkle.
The black sea churns with tides, rising and falling.
Eivass sits on a giant rock by the shore, gazing into the distance, with Inanna sitting beside him, imitating him.
“One night I burned all my memories, and since then my dreams have been transparent.”
Eivass softly recites a poem: “One morning—I threw away all of yesterday, and since then my footsteps have been light.”
“What is this, Teacher?”
“This is poetry.”
“What is poetry?”
“Poetry is the tears of words.”
“Words can cry—”
Inanna says, with a hint of understanding: “Can words bleed?”
After a long silence, Eivass says firmly: “Yes.”
“—just one blood-red word is enough to wound the words; and when wounded words entwine the tongue, they become curses.”
“They pit man against man, make them uneasy, and despair to death. They turn this earth into a battlefield, and this world will never have peace.”
“So, bleeding words are curses?”
“No. They are called—Prophecy.”
Eivass, with extremely complex emotions, said in a low voice that he did not know how long had passed outside.
He also did not know how long he had experienced.
At the beginning, Eivass even tried to unravel the secret of this Ascension Ritual.
He still wanted to counter the whisper of the void.
But after Eivass used the authority of the Father of Snakes’ Samsara to Return to the Past and became the Samsara Heavenly Envoy, he could no longer even hear that damned whisper.
Eivass used the authority of the Samsara Heavenly Envoy to reset the world again and again.
Whenever the world was about to take a wrong direction, he would turn back the hour hand, returning everything to its position before the change occurred.
He finally understood what the power of “loading saves” of the Samsara Heavenly Envoy was used for.
Unlike Amber, who could only turn back the world to the initial moment—as the true owner of the authority of Samsara, Eivass could more flexibly choose the node at which to reset the entire world.
But soon, Eivass realized the danger of this power.
People get tired.
Unlimited saves at will—this is simply the power of a god.
Because of this, Eivass needed nothing and feared nothing.
However…
Even for a game, if one tries to achieve all achievements in the most perfect way by constantly loading saves, one will eventually lose the fun.
Soon, Eivass realized his unease.
Although he had plenty of time—the flow rate between this world and the outside was one to ten thousand. But his time was ultimately not infinite.
He had lost count of how many times he had rewound.
He repeatedly sought the “main quest” of this Ascension Ritual, wanting to leave this world.
But he was like a prisoner trapped here.
No matter what he did, there were no prompts.
He had no system, no quests, no purpose.
He didn’t know what he should do.
So Eivass began to try all kinds of possibilities.
Anyway, with time reversal, everything would disappear.
Sometimes he was arrogant, sometimes cruel, sometimes merciful, sometimes indifferent.
No matter what choice he made, when time reversed—all meaning would be lost.
This was indeed an infinite number of saves. But it had one problem—Eivass could not Return to the Past.
As soon as he chose to save, it was equivalent to killing this world.
But even for a game, the process of a few hours or even tens of minutes, if one constantly reloads, will make people tired.
If life could be lived infinitely, how could one maintain the initial passion after infinitely repeating it?
“—Eternal Samsara.”
Eivass muttered.
As the world changes and revolves, earthly affairs remain eternally unchanged.
The righteous will remain righteous, the defiled will remain defiled. Kings will always be kings, and slaves will always be slaves.
No one rises, no one falls, and all things never change.
The universe has already solidified, like an Amber Egg; the world Samsaras eternally, just like an Ouroboros Ring.
A true Eternal Samsara.
He seemed to hear the whisper of a demon: This life you have lived, you will have to live countless times again. There will be nothing new in it; every pain, ecstasy, thought, and sigh will reappear—will you still love this world?
“Get out!”
Eivass roared angrily at the whisper in his heart.
And a more terrifying possibility appeared in his mind—it was not the whisper of the void, but his own true thoughts.
Can I be willing for what I am doing now to reappear infinitely many times?
Eivass chose silence.
He was clearly unwilling.
“Teacher—?”
Inanna asked, somewhat confused and surprised: “Are you crying?”
She leaned over and carefully wiped the tears from Eivass’s eyes.
“—It’s just a few tears.”
Eivass did not refuse, but only murmured softly: “Once you cry, you get used to it. After a long time, humans, these despicable beings, get used to everything.”
“What Teacher says always makes a lot of sense.”
“This is just the wisdom of the masses that I have gathered. I am a despicable thief who wants to steal time.”
Eivass said, looking up at the sky.
His dark gold pupils appeared ink-black against the night sky.
The sky without a sun looked somewhat lonely.
After a short rest, Eivass opened his eyes again.
His gaze was once again filled with determination.
If time-space will endlessly Samsara, then come.
The cowardly will fall into the abyss of the void—and true heroes will be forged into new suns by Samsara.
If this is life, then do it again!
Thus, Eivass strode forward again.
Infinite deaths, infinite failures, infinite rewinds.
He seemed to be walking on a treadmill that was constantly rolling backward—whether walking or running, he remained immobile in place.
But he gradually approached one transparent figure after another, passing through them.
Those were the Eivass of the past.
They were the fragments of memories left behind by them.
—
In the time when the entire world was frozen by Amber, only Eivass’s dreams moved forward.
Only he endured the torment of eternal Samsara.
Or rather, it was a trial. A trial created by his past self.
Only by breaking through this trial could he have a chance to face the void.
“—Well, it’s a unanimous decision. The Samsara Heavenly Envoy will reset the world. The hour hand of the world will be turned back 3,325 years.”
At the meeting of the Nine Pillar Gods, the Hourglass read out the proposal to annihilate everyone, including himself.
In the cycle after cycle of Samsara, some people also helped Eivass share the responsibility.
“—My close friend, I will illuminate the Earth!”
Lucifer, the Heavenly Envoy of Blazing Light, laughed loudly—he ascended to the sky, blocking the black void.
In the cycle after cycle of Samsara, some people also wanted to become heroes.
“There’s no choice,” the Lord of Scales and Feathers sighed, with either admiration or helplessness, “it’s up to you—Rewind it.”
“Go back.”
Candlemaster, wrapped in black corrosion and gradually disintegrating, said gently: “Let’s choose a new path.”
“Ah—”
Supreme Heaven, pierced through the chest by a blade, grinned at Eivass with a look of regret, yet without sadness: “Return to the past, Snake. Kill that cowardly me.”
“Go back, Snake.”
“We need to abandon this world line.”
“My close friend, I am so sorry—”
Scene after scene appeared.
These were all events that occurred in the “first playthrough.”
After all, it was only a small rewind, not a new playthrough.
No one knew how many times the Ouroboros had Samsara’d, no one knew how many times he had turned the Golden Apple.
Yet, it was as if everything was destined.
The power of fate finally reached its end.
Eivass saw the sky filled with dim yellow.
It was not yellow sand… but the Death of the World.
The new sun had already died—that sun was not half of the moon, but his close friend Lucifer.
He had completely burned himself out, standing until the last moment.
The moon shone with blood-like radiance, illuminating less than a quarter of the sky.
That was not Hengwo either, but Cain, corrupted by the void.
In the dim yellow sky, countless ruins floated. Like poorly steeped tea leaves, the stems floated on the surface of the water.
Looking out, there were no living beings on the earth.
In the sky, only deformed dragons roared and flew. They were all dead bodies controlled by the void.
Among them, one dragon had a silvery white wing, and a flying headless monster held the heads of the Great Philosopher and Supreme Heaven in its hands.
That was the Crown Heavenly Envoy, killed by Eivass and resurrected by the void.
In his hands, he held the Great Philosopher and Supreme Heaven, who had fought to the end. They had fought back to back, but were eventually killed by the void and were about to be transformed into one of them.
—In endless reloads, Eivass truly achieved ultimate perfection.
Under his cooperation, the Nine Pillar Gods were united. He led the Nine Pillar Gods to the end, under the name of the Forbidden Pillar God.
However, he still failed.
Only Sin Thorns writhed and crawled on the ground.
Buildings turned into ruins, and the dry earth turned into a desert.
At this moment, Eivass’s consciousness was chaotic, and his breath was weak.
He lay on the ground, his body fused with the Sin Thorns except for his head. His arms were as withered as trees, and only the part above his neck was still somewhat intact, with black, maple-leaf-like net-like veins on his neck.
After a violent cough, his consciousness seemed to clear slightly.
“—Teacher, Teacher!”
Eivass vaguely heard the pure white girl crying, holding his head: “Don’t die, Teacher!”
“—Inanna—”
Eivass said unconsciously.
“—I’m sorry.”
He smiled bitterly, his voice hoarse: “I did my best.”
“Teacher, there’s still a way, hurry and use the Ouroboros Ring!”
The pure white girl almost turned into light, and in the dim yellow world, she could only illuminate a small area around Eivass: “Return to the Past—”
“—Return to the past.”
He heard himself murmur, sneering, like a dream: “Is it useful?”
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the pure white girl.
As if realizing something, Eivass’s eyes widened, and his vision suddenly became clear.
In that instant, ancient memories from a million years ago seemed to resurface in his heart.
He suddenly remembered that it was the illusion he had seen when he contracted with Amber.
Everything was exactly the same as now—
Eivass coughed violently, tears streaming down his face. Was it from choking, or involuntary.
While coughing, he burst into laughter.
Eivass finally remembered.
—He was in the Ascension Ritual.
How could I forget?
When did I forget?
Watching Eivass, Inanna’s eyes continuously shed tears.
“I understand.”
Inanna choked, and slowly reached out her hand, grasping the black thorny halo above Eivass’s head.
That was the external manifestation of Eivass’s Heavenly Envoy Fragment, as the “Forbidden Pillar God.”
He should have been impossible to touch directly—to be able to touch the halo directly meant that she also met the selection criteria for the Heavenly Envoy Fragment.
However, Inanna was the only exception.
Because on the day the Father of Snakes perished, the one who witnessed it all, besides Eivass—was Inanna.
She was the only one who could inherit the Ouroboros Ring.
“—The Ouroboros Ring—and Teacher’s Pillar God position—give them to me.”
Inanna sobbed, but her hands gradually tightened.
And at that moment.
Eivass raised his withered hand and gently placed it on Inanna’s arm.
It was an extremely light, extremely light touch.
But it instantly stopped Inanna’s action.
“—I—do not fear my destiny, Inanna.”
Eivass murmured softly: “I actually—love my destiny. Because that is the core of my existence.”
“My love spreads its wings over misfortune. I yearn for the needs of others. I love every moment of this world. It is precisely because of this that I can bear the weight of infinite Samsara.”
“—I know you are the same, Inanna.”
Inanna was a little confused.
But also a little expectant.
She slowly put down her hand, looking at Eivass.
And around Eivass, six black cards gradually appeared.
They were all powers sealed by “Void” along with Eivass’s memory.
But the true seal on them was not the void—but a twisted “∞” symbol.
The endlessly looping “Ouroboros Ring,” when twisted upon itself, became the “Endless Knot.”
The loop (0) became infinity (∞).
And at this moment, they gradually faded, turning into six different colors.
And upon breaking free from the seal, six voices flooded into Eivass’s mind all at once:
“Brother! You finally—”
“Master, we have called you for a long time—”
Eivass took a deep breath.
“Ah.”
He let out a meaningless sound and slowly sat up from the ground: “I’m back.”
Eivass looked up at the corrupted White Dragon in the sky—it had noticed Eivass.
The dragon roared and swooped down.
And Eivass, who had now become a Pillar God, was softly chanting the Father of Snakes’ prayer: “I give thanks—to the Father of Ouroboros, the God of Sacred Number Eight…”
“The God Who Never Stops, the God Who Reverses Heaven and Earth—”
The chanting had no meaning, it was just heartfelt gratitude.
As Eivass’s pupils gradually regained their color and light, six figures successively appeared and attacked the corrupted White Dragon, leaving it heavily wounded in an instant. And wings, one after another, grew behind Eivass.
The entire world constructed by the Ascension Ritual began to tremble and disintegrate.
Cracks appeared one after another in the sky.
“Grant me transcendence of space-time!”
