Chapter One: Prologue

Twilight always sought opposition. He longed to fight strong adversaries who could make his scalp tingle and his blood surge with excitement.

Hailed as the Eternal Soul Monarch, he spent his life seeking out evildoers and eradicating cruelty from the universe. He dismantled slave trading across countless worlds, slew terrifying gods, banished demons, and restored order to the lawless cultivation realms.

But now, all that remained was an emptiness—a void that could not be filled. There were no more adversaries. The Demonic God had been slain, the Devil Dragon vanquished, the Evil Shadows extinguished, and countless others had fallen.

Even worse, his companions—the friends who had accompanied him on his journey—were all gone. Some were struck down by their enemies, while others succumbed to the natural passage of time, growing old and passing away.

So today, on January 29th, his birthday, the Eternal Soul Monarch, Twilight, made a decision.

"Since I've cleansed the world of its impurities, I might as well disappear," he murmured, stepping into a dark, cavernous room.

At the centre of the chamber lay a single black book on an otherwise bare table. A ray of sunlight poured through a circular hole in the ceiling, bathing the book in golden light.

Stretching out his right hand, Twilight summoned the book with a flicker of his power. It shot through the air and landed effortlessly in his open palm. A dark grin spread across his handsome face.

"Old friend," he whispered, "let's say some goodbyes, shall we?"

With that, Twilight began to hover. He drifted silently out of the room, the door closing behind him as he flew toward a secluded area deep within his castle.

Along the way, he passed countless servants and guards. None of them noticed his presence; he had intentionally masked his aura.

Before long, he landed in a sombre, isolated graveyard. It wasn't an ordinary graveyard—it was a graveyard of weapons.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of weapons were plunged into the blackened soil. Each one symbolized a fallen comrade, a friend lost over the course of his endless life.

For the first time in what felt like aeons, Twilight knelt. His head bowed, and a single teardrop slid from his eye.

"This is not the end, my friends," he said softly. "The Grand Seer told me that in a thousand years, chaos will befall our world—chaos the likes of which the universe has never seen, and cannot even comprehend."

He paused, lifting his head slightly. A cold glint flickered in his eyes.

"The peaceful world that I—we—built will crumble. Chaos will reign supreme. But I won't be here to stop it. My lifespan will finally run out in 500 years, long before the calamity strikes. I won't live to save our world again… not in what the Grand Seer called the golden age."

Twilight clenched his fists, then released a heavy sigh.

"However, I have a plan," he continued. "I'll reincarnate. But not without you."

A faint, bitter smile tugged at his lips.

"I asked Amelia for a small favour. I'll see you all in a thousand years—your reincarnations, I guess."

Twilight chuckled dryly, wiping away his tears. He sniffed as his gaze lingered on the weapons, each holding countless memories of laughter, struggle, and loss.

After some time, he took a step forward, arriving at the edge of the graveyard. A longsword materialized in his hand, shimmering faintly with power. Without hesitation, he plunged it into the black soil.

"I'll leave this here," he said quietly, "for my future self. He'll need it when the time comes—when he regains my memories."

Twilight forced a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. He didn't want to defile this sacred ground, but he knew there was no safer place to leave the weapon.

Turning his gaze to the vast, golden sky above, Twilight infused his Divine Essence into the black book in his hand.

[You have activated the Primordial Technique: Unrivaled Reincarnation.]

[In what timeline do you wish to reincarnate? Future or Past.]

Twilight hesitated. For a brief moment, the allure of the past tugged at him. It would be so easy to go back, to relive those moments, to rewrite his story.

But he stopped himself.

This wasn't his first time. He had gone back six times before, and the result had always been the same. Failure.

That was why the graveyard was so full. Each weapon marked a friend lost during one of those lifetimes.

No, he couldn't afford to go back again. This was his seventh and final chance—his last use of Unrivaled Reincarnation, as the technique only allowed for seven uses. It was now or never.

"Take me a thousand years into the future," Twilight commanded, his voice devoid of emotion—or at least he tried to make it seem so.

[Command Affirmed.]

[Reincarnation in the process...]

[Side effect: Your memories and powers will be lost since they cannot be stored.]

Twilight sighed quietly. This was why he had failed after six lifetimes. Each time, his memories were erased, and by the time he regained them, it was too late—he had already ascended to godhood.

But this time would be different. He had the help of Amelia, the goddess of reincarnation, and six lifetimes of experience to guide him.

[You have used the Timeless Soul Reincarnation Monarch's key.]

[As you grow stronger, you will recover your memories and powers. The more you advance in cultivation, the more you will regain.]

Twilight closed his eyes, sending a silent goodbye to his companions one final time.

'See you in a thousand years, my friends.'

[Lifespan depleted. Your soul is too strong to be stored; there is insufficient power. Body detonation in the process...]

A deafening boom echoed through the cosmos as the Eternal Soul Monarch—the heavens' rival, the unifier of the universe, the destroyer of evil—perished, his body obliterated in preparation for reincarnation.

[Soul has been stored in the Reincarnation Vault, ready to be released in a thousand years.]

The sensation was surreal, yet eerily familiar. After all, this was his seventh time enduring the unnatural slumber of the Reincarnation Vault.

[Master... good luck.]