Chapter 1690: with translation of chapter title

Eye of Samsara!

Eye of Samsara!

Given the complexity, maybe we can ignore the quote and just translate the words, as the quote is not meaningful content. But the instruction says never skip any clause. The quote is a clause? It's a punctuation mark, not a clause. I think it's safe to omit the quote as it's not meaningful content. Many translations ignore punctuation differences. I'll output just the translated phrase.

Thus 【1】 Eye of Samsara

But we need to keep the exclamation? I'll include exclamation: Eye of Samsara!

Let's do that.

Hum

The familiar rule activation sound.

After a surge of indescribable temporal disorientation rushed to his brain, in an instant Lin An felt as if the world before him had been paused, and then, after an extremely short time, it resumed flowing.

We need to keep it concise but faithful. Let's produce: "After a surge of indescribable temporal disorientation rushed to his brain, in an instant Lin An felt as if the world before him had been paused, and then, after an extremely short time, it resumed flowing."

Unlike the terrifying consumption when the Flame of Time is activated.

While maintaining the Eye of Samsara state, Lin An unexpectedly discovered that although this ability's consumption is not low, it only consumes basic vitality and spirit.

Especially, this consumed portion can be replenished, unlike the Flame of Time, which domineeringly burns away the 'limit'.

In his pupils, flames flowed like a rotating wheel.

In Lin An's vision, the dark Exchange Core seemed to turn into layers upon layers of photographs.

Like layers of video stacked together, each shift of vision gave him a strong sense of discomfort.

Some images moved, producing afterimages, while others remained still, just like normal images.

With the layers stacked together, the whole world became somewhat blurry, making people feel somewhat 'nauseous'.

"Is this... seeing past and future..."

Struggling to adapt to the mental discomfort, Lin An subconsciously lowered his head and gazed at his own hands with some astonishment.

In his eyes, his hand rose as if in slow motion, layer upon layer of images stacking together, as if he suddenly had thousands of hands.

Moreover, after raising his palm, countless images of his palm hanging down appeared beneath his original palm.

Although it looked eerie and even somewhat terrifying.

But Lin An knew that what he was seeing now were images of his own past and future.

With three temporal states appearing simultaneously, he could simultaneously see himself divided into second‑by‑second segments.

"A rather wonderful effect..."

A flash of blood light in his right hand, Lin An instantly exerted a little force and slashed a sword toward the ground.

Accompanied by a low, bursting sound, a crack instantly appeared on the ground.

Not to test the power of his sword, Lin An carefully observed the trajectory of this slash, and his heart secretly praised it.

"Exactly as described."

"I can see the future, so before I even swing this sword, I already see its effect after it's swung."

"It's like a prediction, except now it's a true 'prediction.'"

It's hard to describe what Lin An sees with his eyes right now.

After he swung that sword, he first saw the unswung sword blade cutting the ground, then he saw himself exerting force and lifting the sword blade upward.

Finally, came the real‑world scene: the sword striking the ground and shattering the earth.

It was as if the present him chasing the future, and the past him chasing the present him.

Relying on his strong thinking ability, Lin An easily judged what role this ability could play in battle.

"Save computing power, enhance prediction."

"After activating the Eye of Samsara, I hardly need to rehearse short‑term battle scenes. Likewise, I don't need to hold back power to prevent the rehearsal from differing from reality..."

Time flowed in his eyes, and Lin An gave a slight nod.

In battles beyond the Fourth Stage, both sides clash almost at millisecond or even faster speeds, constantly predicting the opponent's next attack.

It's no exaggeration to say that, unless strength is overwhelming, the life‑and‑death outcome between the two sides largely depends on 'computing' power.

Whoever predicts more accurately gains the greatest advantage and can deliver a lethal blow!

Especially, the closer the combat powers, the more important computing power becomes!

And this precognition ability obviously overwhelms mere prediction by far!

"Just by relying on this one ability, if my enemy is only of equal strength to me, I could seize full advantage and almost stand invincible.."

"Too bad.."

He didn't stay happy for long; thinking of his current situation, Lin An didn't pay much attention to this ability anymore.

The precognition effect is not bad, but the time is too short to make a big difference in his current predicament.

Facing a Fifth Stage opponent whose strength overwhelms his, even if he knew the opponent's next move, what could he do?

Whether he lives or dies, he cannot escape death.

Unless he can see the future within one second, perhaps that could compensate for the gap.

Without further thought, compared to the fused effect, Lin An cared more about what the Soul Fire actually was. Extinguishing it might be a fatal blow, or perhaps another trump card.

"Is this... the Soul Fire?"

Half a minute later, standing outside the Exchange Light Ball, Lin An gazed thoughtfully at the Water Curtain Light Mirror before him.

Intentionally avoiding the light that envelops the Exchange Point, in his eyes the mirror surface reflecting a faint glow showed himself clad in the Death God Set resembling a lit torch.

On his head and shoulders, three pale flames floated and swayed.

His eyes flowed with silver temporal power, and flames ignited on his body.

Under the effect of the Eye of Samsara and the mirror's reflection, he in the glass appeared as if placed in an endless time line, layers upon layers, even his outline somewhat blurred.

Raising his hand, the figure in the mirror lifted 'ten thousand' hands.

Moving his shoulder, the shoulder's motion drove the pale Soul Fire to move as well, reflecting myriad Soul Flames.

In the dim Exchange Hall, Lin An at this moment looked like a movie‑seeking future evil god, peering through a magic mirror for something.

"Three Soul Flames, what do they each correspond to?"

"It's actually the same as the ancient supernatural description?"

Eyes showing doubt, Lin An tentatively covered his left eye and also avoided looking at his left half‑body with his right eye.

In an instant, the countless versions of him in the mirror all simultaneously "extinguished" the soul fire on his left shoulder.

"Interesting..."

"If I don't use the Samsara Eye to look, then I won't be able to see the soul fire, even if it always exists."

"So, without this ability, I can't attack the soul fire? My eyes didn't just see it—they linked into some strange state."

"Some parts are obscure and hard to understand."

"Seeing the soul fire that could only be contacted in the Samsara Eye state, Lin An felt a sudden surge of absurdity."

"Only by seeing it could he touch it, even though the fire existed all along."

"Unable to understand what principle this was, Lin An could only vaguely place it within another power system, even another dimension."

"Compared to its principle, Lin An cared more about the effect."

"How should I test it—using rules or mental power—to attack my own soul?"

"If I attack, I won't just die outright, will I?"

"Looking around, Lin An glumly realized he seemed only able to use himself as an experiment."

"If he brings in another prisoner for the test and kills the opponent, it would be as if he absorbed two fewer rules."

"Moreover, according to the system description, killing a target with the soul fire leaves nothing behind; whereas the sacrificial effect requires extracting the soul."

"Fine, I'll test it on myself!"

"Three flames—it's unlikely that damaging just one would kill me!"