"You've brought us all this way, what exactly is your scheme?" Nightfall Sovereign loudly questioned, intercepting the shrinking Blue Star. Behind them lay the final layer of the World Crystal Wall, which could be easily broken in less than a year. Outside were the swarms of insects, leaving them with no other retreat. In this situation, if the Will of Reincarnation still refused to speak the truth and they truly broke ties, none of them would survive.
Blue Star continued to shrink, instantly becoming the size of a projectile. Due to the limited space, the true body of the Will of Reincarnation shrank to only a foot tall, appearing in the passage wearing a mask. The Will of Reincarnation slowly removed her mask. The moment Nightfall Sovereign saw the Will of Reincarnation's true face, he looked at Rosen in disbelief. This was because behind the Will of Reincarnation's mask, there was a face identical to Rosen's. Except for their differing temperaments, they looked exactly alike in every other way.
The mask was a special seal, and before, there was also the isolation of Blue Star World's countless parallel worlds. Now that these seals and isolations had vanished, Rosen clearly sensed that his and the Will of Reincarnation's immortal wills were from the same root and origin. If everything before his eyes wasn't an illusion, this meant that he and the Will of Reincarnation were fundamentally the same person.
"How is this possible?" Rosen also left the Reincarnation Epoch Ancient Tree, his true body shrinking to a foot tall to directly face the Will of Reincarnation.
"I am you, but you are not me…" The Will of Reincarnation said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Rosen questioned.
"That requires going back a very, very long time…" The Will of Reincarnation seemed to fall into endless, distant memories, muttering, "My existence is not 1,500 reincarnation epochs, but over a hundred thousand reincarnation epochs. As early as the fifth reincarnation epoch, I had already reached this current position. At that time, the Reincarnation Great Realm had a far more profound foundation than it does now. Back then, every epoch in the Reincarnation Great Realm would naturally produce transcendence resources, capable of allowing at least several hundred reincarnation lifeforms to transcend reincarnation. However, no one knew about the existence of space-time reincarnation at that time, so no one thought of breaking open the World Crystal Wall to explore outwards.
"It wasn't until Space-Time Reincarnation first appeared that everything in the Reincarnation Great Realm, space and time, reversed and started over from scratch. At first, I didn't pay attention. The feeling of being reborn alone and controlling everything was exhilarating. I knew all future developments of the Reincarnation Great Realm, all sorts of fortuitous encounters, and the weaknesses of other existences. I, the only one who knew the future, was almost omniscient and omnipotent.
"However, after four reincarnation epochs, I began to feel disgusted by the endlessly repeating life. So I wanted to go out and see. In the fifth reincarnation epoch, I led several hundred existences who had transcended reincarnation, and together we broke open the World Crystal Wall, preparing to leave the Reincarnation Great Realm. Even though we discovered a swarm of insects outside halfway, several hundred transcended beings uniting felt no fear.
"We easily left the Reincarnation Great Realm, fought our way through the insect swarm, and saw the true world beyond the heavens. That was an endless, vast wasteland. Compared to that wasteland world, the Reincarnation Great Realm was but a drop in the ocean. In that wasteland world, there were only countless insect swarms, and countless mysterious existences far more terrifying than the insect swarms. Don't ask me what those mysterious existences were, because I don't know what they were either.
"At that time, I was not the original me; I was merely a strand of immortal will that the original me left behind in the Reincarnation Great Realm as a backup for resurrection, thinking that the outside was dangerous. All those who transcended reincarnation and left the Reincarnation Great Realm in the fifth reincarnation epoch died in the vast wasteland outside. Then, in the twelfth reincarnation epoch, I became the true body and grew all the way to the peak of the previous true body. I chose to once again lead many transcended beings out to see, but this time the number of transcended beings decreased because the Reincarnation Great Realm's output of transcendence resources was diminishing.
"Those transcended beings who died outside the Reincarnation Great Realm permanently weakened the power of the Reincarnation Great Realm. Due to the warning of the first generation's true body's demise, the second generation's true body focused on investigating clues after leaving. Even if I died outside, I had to at least die meaningfully, bringing back enough clues. The wasteland, the insect swarms, and those unspeakable mysterious existences were the clues the second generation's true body desperately sent back.
"Over the next few hundred reincarnation epochs, thirty-seven generations of immortal will were reborn. Thirty-seven of me finally brought back even more valuable clues. The true face of the Reincarnation Great Realm was actually the consciousness sea of a humanoid lifeform in the vast wasteland. The Great Life, The Wasteland, and the Will of Reincarnation's Plan
The countless insect swarms are actually insects that grew on the rotting body of this humanoid life. Everything was polluted and corrupted by those indescribable mysterious presences. Only the consciousness sea transformed into the Reincarnation Great Realm, resisting the pollution and corruption. The repeated Space-Time Reincarnation restarts were essentially to purify the Reincarnation Great Realm from the pollution and corruption it had suffered.
However, Space-Time Reincarnation isn't truly without any cost. Every epoch, the Reincarnation Great Realm becomes weaker. One hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred reincarnation epochs, this is the ultimate lifespan limit of the Reincarnation Great Realm. Of course, I was not reconciled; I wanted to survive in the outside world.
I no longer took other transcended beings out. I tried my best to reduce the attrition of the Reincarnation Great Realm, solely relying on my own power to continuously try methods of survival outside. During this period, I tried for tens of thousands of reincarnation epochs. I died tens of thousands of times outside, directly reducing the Reincarnation Great Realm's lifespan limit by tens of thousands of epochs. Each time I died outside, it took several reincarnation epochs to recover to my peak. I still had tens of thousands of trial-and-error opportunities, but by then, I no longer wanted to go out because I realized that going out was a dead end. I couldn't find any hope of living outside.
A great life, merely a consciousness sea, transformed into the Reincarnation Great Realm, yet it still died in the vast wasteland, decaying and festering with maggots. I, a mere transcended being, am simply not worthy of normally surviving in the outside world. Since I couldn't survive through normal methods, I began to try abnormal ones. I had long prepared for this, because after repeated deaths yielded meager results, my main target shifted to the insect swarms outside. I couldn't survive in the outside world, but those insects could survive there forever.
I began various attempts: assimilation, fusion, mutation. I tried every method I could. I found that it simply wouldn't work. The insect swarms outside had no self. As long as I merged with their power, I would lose my self. That great existence who transformed his consciousness sea into the Reincarnation Great Realm perhaps ultimately fell precisely because of this terrifying self-erasing pollution.
Over the next few thousand reincarnation epochs, I began to gather the wisdom of all reincarnation life to find a solution together. The ultimate conclusion was that it was impossible to survive by relying on the power of transcendence of reincarnation. This was because the power of transcendence of reincarnation was too minuscule, so minuscule that no matter what I did, I couldn't see any hope.
Since I couldn't rely on myself, I decided to rely on the Reincarnation Great Realm. The Reincarnation Great Realm could resist pollution for 129,600 epochs. Even if you look across the vast wasteland, a great existence would certainly not be an ordinary character. If I completely controlled the Reincarnation Great Realm and gathered all its power, perhaps I could survive outside. The direction was not wrong, but I failed, because an ant cannot swallow a living elephant. Unless the elephant dies, then countless ants might be able to share its flesh.
From then on, I began to constantly stimulate the immune system, constantly weakening the Reincarnation Great Realm while continuing to study the insect swarms outside. I discovered that the mysterious presences might target the "self," so I created the Nightfall system to conceal memories. I also created the Dark Sun system, mimicking the pollution and corruption of the mysterious presences. I also created a way for all reincarnation life to master immortal will, based on my own innate immortal will.
However, these were still far from enough, until I discovered a secret. "Rosen, do you still remember the Ancient Gods?"
"Ancient Gods?" Rosen, connecting this to the true nature of the Reincarnation Great Realm mentioned by the Will of Reincarnation, instantly understood what the Will of Reincarnation meant. In the Ancient God World of the past, the Ancient God transformed into all things, leading to the birth of countless lives. Tracing back to the origin, all native life in the Ancient God World was formed from the dispersed spiritual origin of the Ancient God. If the entire Reincarnation Great Realm was the consciousness sea of a great existence, and the continuous Space-Time Reincarnation was to resist the pollution and corruption of mysterious presences, then it's possible that all the initial life in the Reincarnation Great Realm were manifestations of the dispersed spiritual origin of this great existence.
If the Ancient God awakened, would it devour the spiritual essence of all life in the Ancient God World? Would the great existence of the Reincarnation Great Realm be the same? Even the ability of the Ancient God to transform into all things might well have been an experiment guided by the Will of Reincarnation's destiny.
"You're right..." The Will of Reincarnation said with a bitter smile, "At the beginning of each reincarnation epoch in the Reincarnation Great Realm, the first batch of life born in all universes were, without exception, life formed from the dispersed spiritual essence of the great existence. Tracing back to the origin, all reincarnation life are the same person. So I conceived the idea of reclaiming myself, continuously trying to devour all reincarnation life for dozens of reincarnation epochs.
"However, I was never able to completely fuse the spiritual essence of all reincarnation life. It was the great existence who dispersed the spiritual essence, and aggregating the spiritual essence would also require power at the level of a great existence. A mere transcended being cannot assimilate the spiritual essence of over two billion reincarnation lifeforms. Since I couldn't completely fuse all spirits into one, I tried to make them united in purpose. So I began to spread the immortal will extraordinary system, allowing more and more reincarnation lifeforms to master immortal will. The immortal will jointly mastered by all reincarnation lifeforms is the best medium for ultimate unity of purpose."
"So you wanted the Lord's Will?" Rosen said, constantly wary of the Will of Reincarnation seizing his Emperor's Will.
"If it were an earlier reincarnation epoch, then certainly." The Will of Reincarnation looked at Rosen apologetically.
"What do you mean?" Rosen found that the Will of Reincarnation seemed to bear him no ill will.
"I told you, I am you, but you are not me…" the Will of Reincarnation said earnestly. "Nightfall Sovereign and the others and I can only say our origins are the same. In reality, after the great existence's spiritual essence dispersed into countless reincarnation lifeforms, each reincarnation lifeform developed an independent spiritual origin. This is also the main reason why the 'myriad spirits returning to one' failed. I am me, and they are them.
"But you are different. You are a new life that came into being after I split half of my spiritual origin, completely erased all memories, and completely erased all self. You have a life and memories entirely different from mine, forming a self-consciousness completely distinct from mine. At the level of our spiritual origin, we are one person, but at the level of self-consciousness, we are two different lifeforms."
"Why did you do this?" Rosen asked, his voice filled with doubt and surprise. According to the Will of Reincarnation, his relationship with her was like his relationship with an avatar, except that this avatar of him didn't inherit the main body's memories, but instead underwent reincarnation from scratch, as if drinking the Elixir of Forgetfulness.
"Because I'm tired…" the Will of Reincarnation said wearily. "For a hundred thousand reincarnation epochs, I have lived for too long. From being full of drive and confidence at the beginning, to being filled with despair and losing faith later, what has sustained me until now is merely obsession. Under my guidance, you have mastered the Lord's Will of unity of purpose. The Reincarnation Great Realm has also weakened to its lowest point; you now have the opportunity to fully control it.
"However, whether you can survive in the vast wasteland afterward is a future I cannot predict. It's possible you will lead all reincarnation life to survive in the vast wasteland, or it's possible you will quickly die there. The current me is utterly exhausted and even afraid to face the ultimate outcome of this last sliver of hope. That is why I split half of my spiritual origin, leading to your birth."
While Rosen was still weighing the truthfulness of the Will of Reincarnation's words, Nightfall Sovereign and Dark Sun Sovereign had already launched a fierce attack. The powers of Nightfall Reincarnation and Dark Sun Reincarnation locked onto the Will of Reincarnation, unleashing their full might in a relentless, all-out assault.
However, the moment they moved, the Blue Star in the Will of Reincarnation's hand expanded and contracted. They were instantly dragged into Blue Star's internal parallel worlds. Yet, no matter how many parallel worlds they destroyed, endless parallel worlds continued to trap them. The two transcendences of reincarnation were instantly imprisoned by the Will of Reincarnation. Although Rosen considered himself stronger than them, he probably would face the same fate if he confronted the Will of Reincarnation. From this perspective, perhaps the Will of Reincarnation was telling the truth.
"Do you know why Blue Star appears so weak on the surface?" the Will of Reincarnation asked as she handed the Blue Star in her hand to Rosen.
Rosen took the Blue Star and, after a moment of contemplation, had an answer. "Because when the sky falls, the tallest ones are crushed first." Rosen answered with certainty.
"Exactly…" The Will of Reincarnation affirmed Rosen's answer. "How powerful was that great existence? Yet, precisely because of its power, it was eliminated by the mysterious presences. However, the maggots that grew from the great existence's decaying body lived on for countless years and thrived. The Reincarnation Great Realm is indeed powerful, but being too powerful made it a relentless target for the insect swarms.
"This Blue Star, however, dispersed all its power. A single Blue Star is so tiny that even extraordinary beings are difficult to be born on it. But countless parallel worlds of Blue Star, when stacked, are not weak. Weakness is merely an illusion, just a strategy for survival in the vast wasteland."
Although the Will of Reincarnation was powerful, she was merely a transcended being and could not advance further. Therefore, Rosen quickly refined Blue Star. This time, it was a complete refinement. When he was a reincarnation life, the Will of Reincarnation could hide Blue Star's true nature from him. But now, as a transcended reincarnation life himself, it was impossible for the Will of Reincarnation to reclaim the Blue Star he had thoroughly refined. The fact that such a powerful treasure, capable of easily imprisoning two transcended beings, was handed to him, indicated that the Will of Reincarnation was indeed being truthful this time.
"How do I control the Reincarnation Great Realm from here?" Rosen asked his most pressing question.
"The Reincarnation Great Realm, even when weakened to its limit, cannot be forcibly controlled," the Will of Reincarnation replied. "However, the purpose of the Reincarnation Great Realm's existence is to simply exist. When the Reincarnation Great Realm is pushed to its limits, to save itself, it will voluntarily merge into the Blue Star in your hand. The Blue Star in your hand was crafted from the World Crystal Wall of the Reincarnation Great Realm. Now, only one final step remains: to completely tear open the World Crystal Wall and let the insect swarms from outside in."
Rosen gripped the atmosphere of the shrinking Blue Star in his hand. He had not expected that the Will of Reincarnation was preparing for a do-or-die battle. Completely tearing open the World Crystal Wall meant that the insect swarms from outside would rush into the Reincarnation Great Realm and destroy everything. And whether the Reincarnation Great Realm, pushed to its limits, would indeed escape into Blue Star like a cicada shedding its skin, was purely speculation. If the speculation was wrong, then they would have completely cut off all their retreats. According to the Will of Reincarnation, without the power of the Reincarnation Great Realm, surviving in the vast wasteland would be almost impossible.