The universe is no stranger to the Aeons' gaze. THEIR influence far exceeds that of the universe's dimensionality. THEY exist on the highest 11th spatial dimension produced by the Imaginary Tree. Each of their movements is akin to a huge wave stirred at an ocean. It is so noticeable it ought to be brighter than a burning star.
Shi Tian's World Rendering Sword shook the world once more.
Out of them all, several related factions to Amphoreus noticed something amiss.
"...I am not mistaken."
Black cards remained afloat midair. Every flip of a card unveiled a 'destiny' treaded by the world's current trajectory. It is not divination per se, but more of peering through truths veiled as secrets.
Black Swan stared at the results in front of her.
At first, she expected the World Rendering Sword's point of origin to be inside the mysterious and all-powerful solar system. Not even Aeons could force their way inside, showing much of its peculiarity.
Yet, it erupted somewhere else.
As to where…
It all points to Remembrance.
It was as if she wasn't facing a foreign and mysterious man capable of stirring the Aeons' attention, but a "senior" amongst the Garden of Recollection.
'Veil. Hidden. Remembrance. Could it be..?'
One answer came to her mind:
The Eternal Land, Amphoreus.
*****
"Such an absurd thing…"
Shi Tian's outburst affected many things inside Amphoreus, including the memories of the 15,015,021st's cycle 'stolen' from Zandar. It has been completely undone as the influence belonging to the level of Aeons spread throughout Amphoreus.
In that very instant, everything that happened inside came crashing down Zandar's mind. He recovered at that same instant, though its aftermath rendered him speechless.
From Shi Tian's arrival as Merlin down to the 'falsified' situation, he knew them all.
The 15,015,022nd cycle he was seeing?
It is all an illusion!
The 15,015,021st cycle is still running up to now. The 15,015,022nd cycle is more of a camouflage device used in spy movies—or a hacked camera feed playing the same footage over and over again.
"Creation."
True to its name, the World Rendering Sword has the capability to change the world itself. Shi Tian's 'Dao' happened to be that of Creation, completely counteracting the Destruction Aeon, Nanook.
There is another huge problem:
Nihility's gaze.
Even Zandar took a step back the moment he discovered this fact!
Anything that happens beyond this point is completely out of control. It serves to reason he should be panicking, worried his carefully-woven plans spanning countless years would be thwarted, yet he isn't.
Curiosity is the main driving force behind a 'genius'. Zandar One Kuwubara, the #1 of the Genius Society, is no exception. His inherent 'hatred' towards Nous for obstructing the natural development of things weighs equally with witnessing the birth of a new Aeon.
In the original future, he did not interfere with Madam Herta's actions of temporarily merging with Nous. He longed to see what would be the result of another Genius Society member's actions—and whether one of his nine 'answers' held strongly against the Erudition.
Zandar attempted to peer into Amphoreus' inner workings, but to no avail. The world itself is cut off from the rest of the Scepter. The power of the World Rendering Sword "rendered" him hopeless.
He wisely avoided Nihility, remaining alert as to what would happen next. He has his countermeasures for other Aeons' intervention, though he factored in Aeons' inherent unpredictability.
Compared to facing the self-aware denizens of Amphoreus, Aeons are the real deal.
Zandar could only do his best, watching in the sidelines as he always did.
"The birth of an Aeon…"
*****
My original realm sitting at the pinnacle of Divine Transformation Realm eased the burden of the [Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art].
Not to mention, there is a hundred years' worth of gacha from the golden orb. It followed the time flow on Earth, a pity, though I am not one to complain.
One draw a day, it amounted to 36,000 draws, more or less.
The last time I drew was my one hundred years of seclusion. It netted a total of twenty eighth-grade Dao Artifacts. Out of the twenty, two are talismans. The rest are treasures that require the input of a Dao Integration cultivator—either that, or auxiliary treasures that consume eighth-grade spirit veins.
Unfortunately, only my divine mind was summoned in this world. All of my treasures are contained within the eighth-grade storage ring back on Earth. I am lucky to have the golden orb travel along my divine mind.
The 36,000 items I gained over the past thousand years netted eighty eighth-grade Dao Artifacts, three of which are one-time use talismans that can be used by lower realm cultivators.
Now that my divine mind has merged with my true body, these treasures are with me. It is a pity for the eighth-grade pills. Consuming them while overdrawing my power will do more harm than good. But for the talismans, they can be activated without spiritual qi consumption. I have a total of five such talismans.
The first thing I did after summoning the World Rendering Sword is to seal off Amphoreus from the rest of the world. The burden of wielding it with my Void Refinement Realm cultivation took hold.
Bright golden blood spilled out of my lips. It is not a physical damage, but a conceptual one. I can mobilize the World Rendering Sword two more times before I fall unconscious.
Looking at the visual projection in front of me, I called forth the World Rendering Sword for the second time. A pitch-black dao (lit. sword) materialized in my right hand. It embodied the Dao of All Creation I am destined to take.
I willed another power, Remembrance, to mix with it.
Hum-!
A line of bright blue streaked across its black body. It emitted a casual hum, followed by a light-blue glow. A tangible frost emerged from its sword body, intertwining with its metallic sheen.
A huge change emerged from the Remembrance authority I anchored inside my stigma space. The stagnant 79% broke through the 80% threshold. It showed no signs of stopping, eventually reaching 100%.
All sorts of 'memories' came flooding my mind. It is all about the 'ways' of utilizing the Path of Remembrance. These are instinctive actions, just as how Demiurge can create a self-sustaining time loop without any guidance from others.
Click.
A connection emerged. I looked at my palm, and then the thin light blue string leading towards the unknown. I sensed the urge to control 'something'. I guessed it was the 'veil' of the Past. I hesitated between it and what I was supposed to do.
In the end, I chose to do as I had planned.
Sou-!
A symbolic horizontal strike sent the entire space shaking. The visual projections in front of me gradually gained substance, turning into a living and breathing Cyrene… Demiurge.
The moment it was completed, her eyes shot straight towards me. Surprise, shock, bewilderment… all sorts of emotions presented themselves.
"Who are you..?"