"Let me give you all a shocking preview stream."
Noah gazed toward the great universe closest to Teyvat. A streak of flowing light appeared in his hand as he raised it and fired toward the direction in his line of sight.
Shoo—
The streak of light shot forth, transforming into an aurora beam that pierced straight toward the Star Rail Universe.
The aurora beam carried no offensive power; it was simply a declaration of war to the Aeons—Noah's pre-battle proclamation.
With his current strength, as long as he didn't intend to attack any particular place, he could spread information throughout the entire Tree and Sea.
It was roughly equivalent to how humans used electromagnetic waves to transmit information across Earth.
But receiving that information required certain conditions.
Either a universe-level diviner who could decode cosmic data—or someone with an extraordinarily powerful perceptive gift.
At the same time the aurora beam was launched, Noah also sent a wisp of his divine consciousness with it.
If any non-Aeon entity received his message, he could then use that as a fixed point. Unlike Aha, who had to trudge his way there, Noah could directly perform a Truth transmission and manifest in the Star Rail Universe.
This was one application of his 14th power of "Power of Beginning Without End."
I think, therefore I am.
Even outside of Teyvat's bounds, even in the superdimensional realms completely beyond Teyvat's perception—
As long as an intelligent lifeform became aware of Teyvat, even through a single word, or merely heard the name—without even understanding its meaning—
Noah could sense it instantly, then shatter all logic and philosophy to arrive directly.
That is the overwhelming power of a great universe.
Even as a super-god who ruled over great universe-level power, Noah himself didn't fully understand it.
It was somewhat like the Power of Thoughts—but countless tiers higher.
"The message spreads fast. Let's see who will be the first, besides the Aeons, to decode this cosmic signal."
After that, Noah returned to the continent of Teyvat. However, he did not go back to the celebration to join any more events.
Zhongli had just used the Pseudo Star Map Creation to ascend into the second tier of the universal pyramid and had experienced the dominant posture that came with activating it. He was riding high in the moment.
Noah walked through the floating city of Liyue. Liyue's floating cities were known as Liuxian Residences—floating cities adorned with carved dragons and painted beams.
Currently, the skies above Liyue, aside from the Star Realm Abodes, were filled mostly with these Liuxian Residences.
Most of these were small cities built by Lower Gods.
Calling them "small cities" was only in comparison to the great cities of the Liyue nation. On Earth, each of them would be considered a metropolis with a population in the millions.
Though Teyvat had now truly become the Supreme Divine Domain, the proportion of gods remained quite low. Among a million extraordinary beings, it was already considered a supreme blessing from Barbatos himself if even one managed to become a Lower God.
The reason why it used to be so easy to become a god was mostly due to his own interventions as the Heavenly Principle.
To become a god by one's own ability required immense talent and aptitude. Without such gifts, even achieving meritorious deeds would be difficult.
Merit had now become nearly identical to virtue—different names, same essence. Both required contributing to the cosmology of Pan-Human History.
Noah casually ordered a cup of tea at a teahouse and began fiddling with the Aha in his hand.
"Aha, Elation, next I'll be heading to your great universe. You've offended Teyvat, so I'm going to merge your universe into Teyvat. Isn't that absolutely hilarious? Heh."
Annex my universe? Aha, did I hear that right? Did you just say 'annex'? Literally? If that's the case...
Hahahaha, that's absolutely hilarious. No, not just hilarious—it's the ultimate entertainment.
Aha wasn't shocked at all—in fact, he wholeheartedly believed it.
How could he not believe the words of someone so far beyond even an Aeon like himself, someone he could only look up to like an ant trying to shake a tree?
To so casually grasp and merge a great universe—
Terrifying.
He could only imagine what expressions his group of old friends would wear when the time came.
Noah remained completely indifferent.
Noah could fully hear Aha's thoughts—Power of Beginning Without End truly was omnipotent.
After all, this was a power only those beyond single universe-level could possess.
Aha had just been thinking: Fight, fight! Let those fools clash with this universe's Aeons!
Elation is not a narrow concept. It contains many facets. Aha had only grasped a small part of it, which made him an Aeon.
That particular aspect was: since the universe is destined for destruction, then all the efforts of life within it are meaningless. Therefore, the greatest meaning lies only in the joy of existence.
Do not grieve. Do not worry. The greatest purpose of life is present happiness. Let happiness give dignity and meaning to life.
In simpler terms: Because I feel like it.
Noah had already figured out how to use Elation to make Aha fall from Aeonhood.
"Alright then. As an Aeon, even I can't kill you outright. I'll send you back."
Noah slowly closed his fingers around the small sphere he was playing with.
Crack crack crack...
The sound of shattering glass echoed out.
Aha's very existence was crushed in Noah's grasp.
At the same time, the five Truth Rings encircling Teyvat glowed slightly brighter.
The Principle of Elation was continuously being extracted from Aha's form.
Aha's strength weakened rapidly—
Single Universe Level,
Weak Single Universe Level,
Cosmic Structure Level,
Multi-Galaxy Level,
Galaxy Level,
Planetary Level—
The Truth Rings drew out all the laws inherently tied to Aha.
In fact, Noah could've followed this trail to seize the Principle of Elation from the Imaginary Tree itself.
But doing that would provoke a backlash from the Tree and Sea.
A weak multiversal backlash would easily blow Teyvat to pieces.
A faint pink halo appeared in Noah's palm.
This was the incomplete Principle of Elation—also known as a Principle Ring.
With a gentle grip, the Principle Ring vanished from his hand.
At that moment, beyond the boundary of the Teyvat Universe, a pink ring appeared, orbiting like a planetary ring alongside the five great Truth Rings.
But unlike the bright, almost tangible Truth Rings, the Principle Ring was faint and delicate.
Though both possessed the mass of a single universe, in the presence of the Truth Rings, the Principle Ring felt as fragile as glass.
Like a king and his minister—
Truth was the king that ruled over great universes, while Law was but the minister that supported Truth.
Just as Aha's final strength was drained away, his will was instantly pulled back to the Imaginary Tree from Teyvat.
Even with Noah's power, he only sensed a fleeting moment of that departure.
Noah gently lifted his teacup. "Hmm… the Principle of Elation. The one within the Imaginary Tree must be beyond single universe-level in quality. A pity I can't trace it back and seize it—what a loss."
"Still, acquiring one at the single universe-level is good enough."
"Now then… who should become Teyvat's Lord of Elation? A combatant with single universe-level strength… quite the dilemma."
Noah narrowed his eyes in thought, pondering who in Teyvat was qualified to become the Lord of Elation.
He thought for a long time and still couldn't come up with a candidate.
It wasn't that there was no one in vast Teyvat capable of reaching that level—it was that there wasn't anyone he wanted to choose.
A Law with the potential to reach beyond single universe-level… for something of that caliber, of course he would prioritize selecting someone he personally recognized or liked.
At least for now, that was how it worked in Teyvat. In the future, Laws like this would surely become more common. But at present, they were second only to Truth.
Their potential far surpassed that of Pseudo Star Map Creation.
Hmm…
The only ones who seemed remotely related to Elation… were probably Alice and Yae Miko…
But in terms of compatibility with this Law, they were far too low.
They leaned more toward scheming and headstrong tendencies.
Sigh, for now, there really doesn't seem to be a suitable candidate in Teyvat.
Forget it. I'll hold onto it for now.
Noah was a bit helpless. Other vacant Truth and Law wielders included the Alpha of Beginning.
At the moment, Teyvat truly had no one capable of bearing the existence of Alpha.
The bearer of the Alpha of Beginning must be someone born from nothing—a being sacred by nature.
Such conditions are rare even within a great universe. Even those born from nothing and inherently sacred usually turned out to be semi-borns of other Truths—like Ophis or the Red Dragon God Emperor.
"Could it be that the vacant Alpha can only be filled after we detect Little Garden and directly package the Twin Goddesses?"
Noah rubbed his forehead with some frustration.
A Truth wielder was essential. Otherwise, the activity level of the Truth would remain low, and if its activity stayed low, Alpha's effectiveness within Teyvat would drop.
Up until now, the gods of the Alpha faction had only existed sporadically, not yet reflected in the broader pantheon of the Great Universe.
Forget it. No point thinking about it now. If we don't have a solution, we'll just leave it for later.
Noah cast aside his thoughts, and his figure vanished from the teahouse.
When the attendant saw Noah disappear, she panicked, thinking he had dined and dashed.
That god had ordered the most expensive immortal tea—something she couldn't afford even with a hundred thousand years of wages.
Only after the proprietress told her that the guest had already paid did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
...
Noah left the nation of Liyue and appeared in Mondstadt.
At this moment, the most sensational news across all nations in the Supreme Divine Domain was the fact that the Geo Sovereign, Rex Lapis, had become a wielder of the Pseudo Star Map Creation—his power now rivaling that of the Gods-above-Gods.
For mid- and lower-tier deities of the various pantheons, they had no way to attend the Liyue celebration. Even if they went, they could only participate in programs hosted by the local community.
The supreme gods of the seven pantheons were already seen as the pinnacle by lower-tier gods. Now, they were being elevated to the height of supreme gods among gods.
Even if they weren't truly Gods-above-Gods, they at least possessed power on that level.
And these were Gods-above-Gods walking the land of the Supreme Divine Domain—gods they might even have a chance to see face-to-face.
Noah spent several months traveling through the various nations like an ordinary person.
The divine nations were laid out similarly to how countries were distributed on Earth.
The seven great nations were like the five permanent members of the UN. The primary nations of other pantheons resembled regional powers, while other True God nations were like insignificant small countries.
If a True God managing a small city in one of the seven great nations traveled to one of the insignificant small nations, it would be like a king making a personal visit.
The Liyue celebration had lasted several months.
For extraordinary beings who had only lit a single Constellation, that amount of time was still brief—like a weekend.
In the Supreme Divine Domain, even ordinary people were born with a lifespan of a thousand years, even without igniting a single Constellation. A demigod with four Constellations would already live over ten thousand years.
At this point, Liyue had already become a Divine Collective—Heavenly Court, Daoism, Mount Sumeru—though each still had their own pantheon, they were now merely factions within the larger collective.
...
Zhongli and Hu Tao stood as the highest beings within the Liyue Divine Collective.
They could, by sheer will alone, alter the entire Liyue Divine Collective.
But neither Zhongli nor Hu Tao would ever act in such a way.
After the Liyue celebration ended, the highest gods of each pantheon returned to their respective systems and agreed upon the sequence in which each pantheon would initiate its Gift Games.
While it was possible to activate all the Gift Games at once, each game was an opportunity—a great fortune for the gods.
So they agreed: whenever a Cosmology Gift Game was activated, they would all attend as witnesses.
After all, to feel the activation of a Cosmology firsthand was to perceive the ultimate mysteries of a universe.
Even a fleeting glimpse could raise one's odds of becoming an Almighty God in the future.
By attending so many cosmology unveilings, one's probability of reaching the Almighty might increase by 1%.
Fontaine.
The second nation to initiate a Cosmology Gift Game was Fontaine.
Floating holograms across the midair layers of the Fontaine nation were broadcasting today's news.
[According to the latest exclusive scoop from the Steambird Community:
Our supreme, great, beloved, and just goddess—Lady Furina—will activate the Cosmology unique to our Fontaine Divine Collective in three days' time.
Our star reporter, Upper God Miss Nao Tomori, brings us live coverage from the scene.]
Passersby on the street raised their heads and stared intently at the holographic projections.
People at home were glued to their televisions.
In the two thousand years since, Nao Tomori had already become an Upper God. Lively and bold, she leapt in front of Fontaine's own Furina.
"~Respected, great, and supreme Lady Furina, may I ask about your visit to Liyue..."
Furina placed her hands on her hips and waved dismissively, answering some of Nao Tomori's questions.
At the end, she habitually spread her arms wide and spoke loudly:
"People of the Fontaine Pantheon, and the Celtic peoples soon to be merged into Fontaine—we of Fontaine shall soon activate a Cosmology that belongs solely to all of us!"
"Rejoice! Shout! Share this joy with everyone—for this will be a blessing bestowed upon the entire Fontaine Divine Collective!"
"To those before the screen: raise your wine cups if you have them, and if not, raise flowers—or your own hands in their place."
The War God Artosh watched Furina's declaration in the hologram.
Beside him, Ocain gulped down his wine and patted him on the shoulder. "A Cosmology, huh... You're about to get stronger again. The idea of 'strongest' may be outdated, but the power of battle has grown so much. You've been stuck at God-King for a while."
As Old Deus, divine personifications of rules, their upper limit was God-King. To reach the level of Supreme God, one had to comprehend and unify numerous rules to form supreme Origin Power.
As personifications of individual rules, they were inherently disadvantaged in that aspect.
So they could only rely on Cosmologies to take shortcuts.
"But you, Tet... You sly guy—quietly brushing against the edge of Supreme Godhood."
Tet sat cross-legged in midair, hands behind her head, grinning. "Hehe, what can I say? My games include so many rules."
"Being broad but shallow is usually a weakness, but under the rules of the Gift Games, it's become an advantage. That allowed me to accumulate the endpoints of many rules with ease."
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