Chapter 1684: A Living Reality To ensure his serpents were able to consume the bones of the Primordial Ouroboros, Rowan had to employ the power of his entire Origin Bloodlines and delay his cultivation for two years because of the environment of Oblivion that made it impossible for anyone to trace what was within it. Rowan knew that even if he had finished claiming the Origin of Space, he would only have the capability to move through Oblivion and place markers inside of it, but seeing all its secrets at a glance would have been impossible. The only entity that should be able to achieve this was Eosah. Still, Rowan had not placed much faith in this because she was dead and her reach had been shrank down to the lowest level of the void where a fragment of her consciousness remained, sustained by the impossible power of that place. This gray orb by Eosah would lead him to Primordial Soul. By touching it, Rowan felt the ancient power of time and vitality surrounding it, which suggested to him that Eosah had made this orb before she was killed. It was as if she knew it would be important one day, and she had kept it. After twelve major eras, it finally reached Rowan today. Although Primordial Soul was supporting him, their partnership was not one built on trust but convenience. Trying to ally with a Primordial was like a mortal bringing a poisonous snake into his home; it would only lead to disaster. Primordials regarded everything to be below them, and all of existence was for their amusement and sustenance; they did not create, they only consumed. The reason Primordial Soul was trapped for so long was that she had been the closest to discovering the secrets behind this Reality, and so she was betrayed by the rest of the Primordials and imprisoned inside Oblivion. However, Rowan discovers this unknown place hidden below Oblivion, and he wonders if Primordial Soul has allowed herself to be imprisoned here. He had gained enough hints from the words of Eosah, and he could stand back and analyze the actions of the Primordials, seeing them in new light. Eosah had told him that the Primordials caught a glimpse of the power she had found, and that was the reason they began to plot against each other to find it. The Primordials had already won. Eosah was dead, and all her dominion was theirs to conquer, but they still held their hand, even subtly nurturing the lifeforms that were left inside this Reality, giving them enlightenment about the higher dimensions just so that they could find that place. What this meant was horrifying for the rest of Reality because Rowan believed that the only reason the Primordials had not consumed Reality entirely was that they were looking for an ultimate prize. If Reality were held by seven foundations, then the Primordials were already in possession of all seven. His feat of making a New Light might have seized a portion of a single foundation, but it did not matter as much in the grand scheme of things. If they wanted, they could take away that foundation, and all of Reality would end in an instant. Nothing would survive except Rowan and his Origin Land, yet even that would not last for long. His Origin Land was powerful, but it had been hidden inside Reality. With the destruction of Reality, his Origin Land would be exposed to Limbo, and by then, the Primordials would consume him like an appetizer. This time, he would not be facing the offshoots of the Primordials that were inside Reality; instead, he would be going against the real deal—ultra-powerful Reality eaters who were the greatest predators in all of existence. It was no wonder that, in many ways, the uprising of the masses and the changes brought by Rowan were not taken too seriously. They had all the ultimate cards, and only their greed for this unknown power kept them in check. Perhaps some of them may believe that Rowan’s special nature was because of this mysterious place, and they would be looking for ways to exploit his gifts in order to bring them closer to this prize. Feeling a numbing weight press down on his shoulders, Rowan closed his grip on the gray orb; his decision was already made. He would continue his infiltration into the Origin of Time, but he was going to be going much more slowly and carefully, and as he was investigating Time, he would find his way towards the body of Primordial Soul and consume her. There had never been any loyalty between them, and despite all that she said to him on his origins and how she was responsible for his birth, Primordial Soul did not look upon Rowan with favor; he was a slightly bigger prey. Primordial Soul had claimed that she had only pushed a fragment of Rowan’s soul origin into Reality, and the rest of them were his to claim. Despite how powerful Rowan had become, he was still seriously tempted by this offer. What would it mean for him to regain all the portions of his soul’s origin? After all, Primordial Soul had claimed he was with barely a thousandth of his true soul origin, and if he could claim it all, then she would not understand the limit of his powers. Rowan had half believed her at first, but after the revelations from Eosah, he truly believed this statement from Primordial Soul. His real name was Eos, and he was not just a living dimension but a living Reality. Although his manner of birth may be strange, it did not change who he was. There was a reason why he could not be integrated with Reality, no matter how long he stayed outside of it. He was just too massive to fit into another Reality. A house was meant to hold occupants who could fit inside, but a house was not meant to hold another building. If the potential of Rowan’s soul was equal to Eosah, then it was impossible for anything inside of Eosah to carry his soul, and without the intervention of Primordial Soul that broke his soul origin into pieces, he would not have been born. To get to this point had been difficult, but Rowan believed he had unveiled the truth of his Origins. All Realities to be born had already been recorded in the Cosmic Record. What this thing was, Rowan did not know, and he did not ask; some knowledge would come in time, and knowing it too early would be destructive. He was to be called Eos, a Reality that would be born after Eosah. If there were a special significance behind this, Rowan could also not tell. However, whatever his birth might have been like, it was interrupted by the attacks of the Primordials, who killed Eosah. After the endless betrayals and backstabbing among them, Primordial Soul was imprisoned inside Oblivion. Her brother, the Primordial of Time and Evil, was banished. Primordial Soul had been too close to gaining the mysterious power discovered by Eosah when she was imprisoned, while Primordial Time had been reaching for the future when he was banished. As Rowan had learned, looking into the future had consequences, especially inside of Eosah, but Primordial Time had done it, and this had triggered his birth. If Eosah was meant to herald the coming of Eos, then the truth was that the future of Eosah was him! In essence, peering into the future was just ensuring the birth of Rowan. Could it be possible that Primordial Time was not aware of this danger, or was there another deeper reason for him to pursue this path? Rowan grinned internally, seeing the connection that might have been hidden from the rest of the Primordials. He knew that Primordial Soul and Primordial Time were siblings, and yet it would seem that their actions were against each other, but that might not be the case, because looking at the entire fiasco from his point of view, the action of Primordial Time peering into the future did not benefit him as much as the other Primordials had believed. He may have gained another domain at the ninth-dimensional level, but as Rowan had seen, he was still easily banished by the other Primordials. No, the Primordial he gained the most hidden benefit was Primordial Soul, and Primordial Time was a distraction. What had happened when Eos was born? Well, without the guardian of Eosah, Primordial Soul had feasted on his soul until she could no longer gain anything from him, and Rowan believed that if he were anything less than a Reality, he would have perished from her hunger. His eyes suddenly flashed with a terrifying glow as he became aware of something, and Rowan pushed his energy inside the gray orb and began tearing his way towards the direction given by Eosah. Primordial Soul had claimed that feasting on his soul origin had simply awakened a small part of her consciousness, and Rowan had believed her, but now that he knew he was born a Reality, how could Primordial Soul only have gained such minor benefits from his soul? If he were a Reality at birth, then it meant he should have been born at least at the proto-ninth-dimensional level, and fully awakening would make him a ninth-dimensional entity. How could the radiance of his soul be so minor? Time and distance were meaningless in Oblivion, and Rowan did not take long before he reached the position where he should have found the sleeping body of Primordial Soul. And it was empty. Primordial Soul, long believed to be sleeping inside Oblivion, had escaped sometime in the past.