"Soon, the Long Night will arrive..."
At that very moment, far away in the Primordial Age, Zhu Tang gazed at the darkness beyond the window and sighed. "The Long Night has finally arrived."
Just as it had in the ancient past, during the time of the Cicada's Metamorphosis.
The sun fell, and the Pillar God changed!
Every Transcender in the world suddenly awoke at that moment, a tremor that was almost grief-stricken rising in their hearts.
It was like the feeling one had when a loved one was in danger. That force gripping their hearts left them unable to breathe.
And then, people saw a magnificent and dazzling vision:
On this morning when the sun failed to rise, an incomparably magnificent Feathered Serpent flew resolutely toward the sky!
[—August 1. It has been confirmed.]
[—On that day, I will complete my final transcendence: crossing the Twilight Wall.]
[—Whether I survive or not, and regardless of what lies beyond that wall... I will no longer continue to exist as a Pillar God. Whether I die, depart, am reborn, or ascend to the highest throne... I will leave the River of Change.]
[—This world will face 'Eight Days Without Transcendence.' Once August 8 arrives, a new Pillar God will ascend.]
These were the words the Serpent Father, manifested when the Cardinal Bishops had previously used the Divine Descent Ritual, had spoken to the Lord of Scales and Feathers.
Now, as Iver witnessed the Serpent Father's fall during the Promotion Ritual, the Serpent Father in the Dream Realm outside launched the same charge—
The Serpent Father was in the Dream Realm. Without descending into the Material Realm, he could not possibly "break through the firmament."
Thus, he was merely flying upward.
Yet reflected in the Material Realm, this scene became the Serpent Father