Chapter 473 - 29: Eternal Kalpa of Reincarnation

[Above that, there is the Reincarnation of the ebb and flow of Spiritual Qi, the Reincarnation of Spirit’s presence and absence, and the Reincarnation of world clusters dimming and then shining.]

[The Multiverse, too, must decay and be reborn. Without birth, there is no death. Without decay, there is no meaning to rebirth. Without Reincarnation, there is no breaking through it, just as without shackles, there is no meaning in breaking free.]

"But there’s no need to deliberately create suffering and force countless beings to cycle through this fate of destruction and rebirth!"

Su Zhou didn’t even know who, or where, he should direct his words. The Gray Mist before his eyes was like an ancient, unchanging eternity. Other than the voice that echoed from the unseen depths, it was as if nothing existed in the dark Void, and as if nothing had ever changed.

He simply asked, his tone a mixture of resignation and a sigh, "Or are you saying that only through suffering can one transcend Reincarnation?"

[Oh, favored one of the Chaos Serpent, one day you will surely be able to place the civilizations and worlds you love in the palm of your hand. You can put your race, your friends, and everyone you know into a small vessel of ’absolute safety, absolute happiness, and eternal endurance,’ and then watch as they continue on forever—just like the paradise of blissful ease some other being created.]

[But what meaning would that have? In the end, how is that any different from a dream? One day, when you wake from that dream, that happiness will shatter, and everything you hold in the palm of your hand will crumble.]

The voice from the unseen depths calmly answered Su Zhou’s question. He was so gentle, so patient: [This is not suffering; it is a Trial. And what’s more, I can certainly make everyone happy in whatever way they desire.]

[However, happiness alone cannot create a Transcender.]

[For anyone who is not a Transcender, all happiness is but an illusory dream. Never mind the endless calamities hidden throughout the countless worlds of the All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds—just consider me alone.]

[All it would take is a single thought, a single careless thought. And though it is impossible for me to be careless, that is how fragile they are. They are so very fragile. Like a dream. The moment I awaken, they—my children—will all become a mere illusion. Everything about them, their happiness included, would vanish without a trace, popping like a bubble.]

[I do not want that. They are my children. They should be stronger. I want them to be able to stay by my side forever—that is why they must become Transcenders, capable of overcoming all Reincarnation.]

A booming Spirit Sound echoed through the Void. It was an unprecedented Spirit Sound, a sound no cluster of dead souls could ever possibly produce.

And at that moment, Su Zhou realized that the immense Spirit Sound echoing from within the Gray Mist, from the Silent Lord’s side, was not a sound produced by His being itself, but rather His own quiet murmuring.

That Spirit Sound was actually names—the true names of the True Spirits of every individual, every life, every being with or without a name from across the endless cycles of Reincarnation the Silent Lord had witnessed.

The great being had committed every true name to memory. He murmured these names, remembering everything from the very beginning to the very end.

Just how long had the Silent Lord existed? Before He was sealed, how many lives, how many worlds, how many cosmoses had He brought into being?

How many names had He truly memorized, and why did He endlessly repeat them?

[Brief suffering will ultimately lead to eternal Transcendence. Death in one life accumulates strength for the next.]

The voice from the unseen depths was filled with an endless ’love’: [I have infinite time. One day, after an infinite amount of time has passed, all of my children will return. Then, I will no longer need to remember them, for they will have achieved Transcendence and will be by my side, enjoying the true, tangible happiness of a Transcender.]

He truly expected His children to break through everything and transcend Reincarnation.

Su Zhou could not refute the Silent Lord’s words. The Silent Lord’s love was of a magnitude beyond human comprehension, nor was it something mortals could refuse.

He recalled Yara’s words.

’—In the Silent Lord’s eyes, a being is the same before and after the Reincarnation of life and death. Death is merely a temporary rest, a brief exit from the stage. When one turn ends, another chance begins.’

"If they truly did transcend, then perhaps the first thing they would want to do is defeat you."

Gazing at the black mist, Su Zhou muttered to himself, but he let out a laugh before he could finish.

Because the Silent Lord had already been defeated. It was sealed right here.

And besides, what He was hoping for was the very fact of His own defeat and the transcendence of Reincarnation.

The light dissipated, and the Gray Mist retreated.

The Silent Lord was bringing this brief encounter to a close.

He had only wanted to see where this being, the one who helped His child transcend the Reincarnation of the Era, had come from. Now that He had His answer, He was satisfied.

"Silent Lord, what is your true purpose?"

Just then, Su Zhou asked one last question. "Even the Tree of the Great Dao wants to use its Clan to escape the Seal. But this time, in the Tartadis World, I didn’t see a single clue or any sign that you were trying to break free."

It was precisely because neither he nor Yara had found anything that Su Zhou hadn’t been in such a hurry to seek out the Silent Lord. ’After all,’ he thought, ’without even the "tools to commit the crime," escape is impossible, no matter how high the degree of corrosion.’

[So you have already met the Tree of the Great Dao? Unlike Him, I do not wish to leave the Great Seal.]

The voice from the unseen depths grew fainter, as if receding to the farthest reaches of space and time. [My path was proven to be wrong. If I am wrong, I will change. I will leave only after I have once again proven myself correct.]

[For beings like us, proving ourselves right is more important than anything—far more important than freedom.]

[Oh, favored one of the Chaos Serpent, do not repeat His old path. Surely, He would not wish for you to become an echo of His past, re-enacting yet another cycle of Reincarnation.]

And the little red snake chuckled softly. He didn’t speak with His old friend this time, but everything was said in the silence between them. For Them, the simple act of meeting was meaning enough.

—The serpent had come, so Eden shattered, and the cycle of Reincarnation was broken.

The journey of the man and the serpent was only just beginning.

The voice vanished.

The darkness receded.

With a long, drawn-out sensation of falling, Su Zhou’s consciousness returned to his body.

He opened his eyes. He was still in the Tartadis World, on the ninth floor of the Central Maze.

Before him was the Era Core he was in the process of transforming: the Flame Heart.

Under Su Zhou’s hand, the Primal Flame had already begun to flicker with light of four different colors.

The core of Flame, which once pulsed like a sun, could now be seen transformed. It was a massive, gentle sphere of light, where the Spiritual Light of four elements cycled in turn, shimmering like a rainbow.

Azure wind, blue water, brown earth, and red fire.

The lights merged, resolving into a pure white light—the color of life itself, nourishing all things. The endless sea of lava on the ninth floor of the Maze had also transformed into pure light, a radiance containing all the possibilities of the Four Great Elements.

[World Core: Heart of the Four Elements]

"Did we succeed?"

The Wind God’s nervous voice could be heard. His instincts told Him that what existed before them was an unprecedented ’hope,’ but as a Divine Being long accustomed to despair, He had forgotten what hope felt like and found it difficult to believe.

Elias clenched his fists and exclaimed with joy, "We must have succeeded! Look, the Elements are cycling in perfect, stable succession..."

"Yes, we succeeded."

Gazing at the world-class engine of elemental balance he had forged with his own hands—the very core of the New World—Su Zhou came back to his senses. A complex smile touched his lips before finally settling into a look of firm resolve.

Turning to the Wind God and Elias, Su Zhou said calmly, "But this is just the transcendence of a single cycle of Reincarnation."

"This eternal cycle, this endless Reincarnation... The road to transcending it all is still long!"

With that, Su Zhou stepped forward and activated the massive sphere of light.

And thus, a new Era was born.

—End of Volume 4: The Eternal Cycle of Reincarnation—