Prologue – The End of Eternity
The heavens trembled, and the cosmos itself bled. Stars flickered like dying embers, swallowed whole by the abyss that spread across the firmament. Upon the shattered remnants of countless realms stood two figures—beings whose very existence surpassed mortal comprehension.
Tianxu, the Devourer of Eternity, hovered above the ruins, his shadow stretching across the skies like a living nightmare. His every breath corroded space, his every movement dissolved worlds. A cruel, piercing laugh cut through the void.
"Pathetic," he mocked, venom dripping from every word. "Hao Zan… the mighty Eternity Sovereign. Your lovers? Gone. Your comrades? Reduced to ash. Tell me… do you even have the strength to stand?"
Hao Zan's lips curved into a faint, bloodied smile. A grin that carried scorn, defiance, and exhaustion all at once. He spat blood to the cracked ground.
"Strength?" he rasped, voice hoarse but unwavering. "You've devoured worlds, Tianxu… yet you cannot create. You destroy, but you cannot endure. How is that strength?"
Tianxu's eyes narrowed, his sneer deepening. "Insolent wretch! You dare—"
Hao Zan roared, louder than the thunderclap that shattered the heavens. "Dare? Hah! I do not dare—I act! This world, these lives, this eternity… none of it belongs to you!"
Lightning, fire, and fragments of shattered Dao clashed as Hao Zan surged forward. Every movement mocked the void itself, even as wounds opened across his body.
Around him, screams of pain and shattering bones filled the void. His brothers-in-arms, once the pride of the immortal worlds, fell one by one.
"Hua… no!" Hao Zan's voice cracked. His chest heaved as he swung his sword through the onslaught of Tianxu's shadow minions, buying even a moment of life for those he loved.
Each name that passed his lips carried grief and rage. Each strike of his sword carried the weight of loss. Yet, in the midst of despair, a faint, bitter smile flickered across his face—memories of their laughter, their camaraderie, the small moments of joy they shared during past victories.
He wiped blood from his eyes and whispered under his breath: *"Even if you die, I will carry you forward… into the next life."*
Tianxu lunged, claws like scythes tearing through space itself. Hao Zan staggered but did not fall. Instead, he laughed—a wild, ragged sound that carried across the void.
"Do you truly think that all I am can be destroyed, Tianxu? Hah! Look closely!"
From the depths of his soul, a lattice of golden light erupted. Inscribed with incomprehensible runes, it spiraled outward to form a shimmering construct around him.
The **Eternity System** had been born.
It hummed silently, unseen by Tianxu, yet radiating infinite power. Within it lay Hao Zan's cultivation foundations, heaven and earth treasures, the strongest techniques of countless realms, and the legacies of those who had entrusted him with their final breaths. His life's entirety, compressed into a framework that no regression could erase.
Tianxu's eyes widened in disbelief. "System? You dare forge such blasphemy!?"
Hao Zan's laughter rang louder, almost musical in its defiance. "Blasphemy? No, Tianxu. This is eternity! And it… belongs to me!"
The lattice flared, light tearing through darkness. His body shimmered and cracked, yet his grin only widened.
With a roar that shook fractured stars, Hao Zan ignited his final trump card—the **Heaven Devourer Physique**. His very essence fractured, collapsing his Origin Pillars, his soul, his cultivation. His body dissolved into streams of radiant light that surged backward through the river of time.
"Regress…!" Tianxu bellowed, his fury and disbelief crashing together. "You dare… return to the past!?"
Hao Zan's voice, though fading into white-hot brilliance, carried serenity and fire together: "Not returning… transcending. This time, none of you will fall. This time… I will endure!"
Time tore apart, collapsing reality as Hao Zan's essence surged backward through the river of time. His body, his cultivation, his very soul—all preserved by the **Eternity System**.
And then… silence.
When Hao Zan opened his eyes, he saw the world as it once was—the past, yet slightly altered. His body young again, the wounds of battle gone, but his memories sharp and blazing. A soft laugh escaped him, tinged with relief and joy.
He touched his face, flexed his fingers, and whispered: *"This time… I will not fail. Tianxu, wait for me. I will become the devourer of eternity… and you will remember my name."*
A golden shimmer flickered around him, the **Eternity System** quietly humming, ready to guide him forward.
Thus began Hao Zan's second life—a journey of love, vengeance, and the creation of an empire that would endure **beyond time itself**.