"The black tide sweeping through the great universe..."
"If the power saturating the entire Abyss were released, it could collapse all universal order in a short time."
As Aether imagined that scene, a trace of madness unconsciously spread across his face.
At the same time, everything within the Abyss reflected in his eyes.
Entire galaxies, like tides of the universe, formed endless expanses of pitch-black interstellar dust stretching for tens of millions of light-years.
Upon magnification, these dust clouds revealed their true form: tides of magical beasts with god-level magical beasts as the basic unit—trillions of individuals forming each wave.
Such magical beast tides were everywhere within the Abyss.
He had always been seeking ways to expand the base of Abyssal development.
And now, wasn't this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Once a great universe was engulfed, the Abyss would absorb all the remnants purged from that universe—an incredibly valuable source of labor.
He was certain that this alone would push Abyssal development past 60%. At that point, he would naturally ascend to the single-universe level.
Becoming the first being to achieve such power after the eight supreme ones—reaching that level through his own strength.
The will of the entire Abyss stared intently at the vast number of World Gates.
The moment those gates opened, the Abyss's power would flood out in a torrent.
"It shouldn't be much longer..."
Reluctantly, Aether withdrew the Abyss's will.
The power of the entire Abyss now felt like a caged beast.
Once the gate to the cage opened, the beast would roar uncontrollably.
Aether returned to the Central Continent.
Though the upcoming devouring of a great universe might significantly boost Abyssal expansion, he had no intention of resting.
During this time, he still had to supervise the higher Abyssal gods in their efforts to expand the Abyss.
In truth, although Aether was like a slave master among the Abyss, he wasn't exactly harsh toward his subordinates.
In fact, the civilization of the Abyss was well-maintained.
After all, his vision and standing were far above the rest.
Each civilized planet in the Abyssal Universe resembled Earth's various timelines in the main world—whether in terms of lifestyle or culture.
The only difference was that the races were Abyssal species. Simply put, a one-to-one copy of the main universe.
Abyssal species weren't strong from birth. At first, they were merely on par with extraordinary beings who had lit up their Constellations.
Nowadays, Abyssal species were not born from Abyssal matter, but reproduced just like the races of the main universe.
The Abyss now encompassed many of the negative concepts from the main universe.
Like the Greek Tartarus, the Buddhist Avīci Hell, the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and so on.
A composite of all mythological lands of atonement.
…
Elsewhere—
Fontaine.
At this moment, the celebration for Fontaine's promotion to a Divine Collective was still ongoing. However, the climax had passed, and the atmosphere was gradually calming.
Aside from various celebratory installations and the still-thriving Gift Games, the original residents of the Fontaine Divine Domain had begun returning to normal life.
Those still indulging in revelry were mostly gods from other pantheons who had no ambition.
Most of the high gods had long returned to their own pantheons—after all, their Supreme Gods had informed them that it was time to begin the Gift Games that would activate their cosmologies.
At this moment, within Fontaine Divine Collective—the highest governing body—the Palais Mermonia.
With Fontaine's ascension to a Divine Collective, the Palais Mermonia had become the core divine temple of the three major pantheons.
Originally the administrative center of the Fontaine Pantheon, it now handled the affairs of all three major pantheons.
The arrangement of galaxies across the main universe of the Divine Collective, the rotation of divine duties across the timelines, and the development and maintenance of the Endless Planes—everything was managed here.
Except for the top floor of the Palais Mermonia, which belonged solely to Furina, the second floor was the designated location for convening the Divine Collective Assemblies.
Furina, the rightful and undisputed ruler of the Divine Collective, sat regally upon the highest divine throne in the temple.
Beside her, a throne remained empty—this one belonged to Focalors.
Public meetings were handled by Furina, while internal judgments were presided over by Focalors. Their division of responsibilities was clearly defined.
Now possessing the Pseudo Star Map Creation, Furina and Focalors had reached a balance in strength.
Furina had already reached the level of Supreme God, and now, her strength had even reached the threshold of a Primordial God…
At this moment, all the gods of the Divine Collective's three major pantheons had gathered.
The Supreme Gods of the three pantheons were: Nuada, the Celtic God-King; Ahura, the benevolent god of Zoroastrianism; and Angra Mainyu, the evil god. All of them held the title of God-King. After the activation of their cosmologies, the blessings they received had brought them faintly close to the level of Supreme God, though their feats were still insufficient.
Aside from the three God-Kings—
There was also Tet, the God of Games, who had now become a genuine Supreme God. The Cosmic Nexus had granted her the right to serve as the arbiter of the Gift Games.
In that moment, the God of Games became renowned throughout the universe, hailed as the foremost deity below the veteran Supreme Gods.
Additionally, Artosh, the God of War, had now become the Divine Collective's God of Enforcement—the most powerful figure within the Marechaussee Phantom, the organization dedicated to punishing rogue gods. He was also nearing the Supreme God level, but still lacked enough accomplishments.
In the original Fontaine pantheon, aside from Focalors, the strongest was the Hydro Dragon King, Neuvillette. He had already attained the level of Primordial God, becoming one of the universe's rare cosmic-structure level powerhouses.
Beyond these Supreme Gods and God-Kings, there were others whose combat power reached the God-King level, such as the Exceptional Primary Gods: Clorinde, Wriothesley, and Sigewinne.
Apart from them were the various gods from subordinate communities.
Though affiliated with the Fontaine Divine Collective, many of them maintained relative autonomy—such as the Witches' Council.
Furina sat gracefully upon her throne, her heterochromatic eyes surveying all the gods below with a haughty gaze befitting a superstar.
By her side, Neuvillette stood tall, holding his staff, perfectly upright—as if the second strongest in Fontaine was merely a servant awaiting orders at any moment.
Artosh, the God of War, stood at the outermost edge. His created Flügel served as guards, maintaining order throughout the divine temple.
The other God-Kings sat in the front row, some with slight unease—only Tet, the Supreme God, looked around actively, brimming with energy.
Furina clapped her hands.
"Alright, everyone. All the gods of the Fontaine Divine Collective have gathered. Let us begin the very first assembly since the establishment of our Divine Collective."
"This meeting will determine the future direction of our Fontaine Divine Collective—and announce the trial of Avesta, the Pseudo Star Map Creation, which will be open to all gods of the Divine Collective."
Furina gazed down upon the divine temple, where over three thousand gods had gathered.
Only gods at the level of True God and above were qualified to attend this assembly.
Now that the Divine Collective comprised three major pantheons, there were indeed quite a few gods at the True God level or higher.
However, the seven major pantheons all shared one major issue: the imbalance between their middle-tier and upper/lower-tier powers.
In terms of upper- and lower-tier strength, the Seven were undoubtedly the strongest.
The top-tier consisted of Supreme Gods and Primordial Gods—some had now even reached single-universe level.
Because the upper echelons of the Seven were so powerful, they radiated their influence across countless spatiotemporal planes, leading to the highest number of ascended Lower Gods at the bottom tier.
But the mid-tier—the True Gods—were relatively sparse.
These True Gods had gradually ascended over time, whereas in pantheons like the Norse or Greek, the middle tier was more populated, largely because they had a strong base of middle and lower-tier gods when they first formed their pantheons.
At this moment, Furina's heart was far more stirred than usual.
After all, this was the very first meeting held by the Divine Collective—a gathering that could practically be called a miniature version of the Divine Assembly.
Although she was normally the most beloved superstar in the universe and the most approachable of all Supreme Gods…
It had always been Focalors who presided over prior major assemblies.
Even though Furina often addressed countless Fontaine citizens and the leaders of various communities,
Serious occasions like this were worlds apart from the casual ones.
Everyone present was a pillar of the Divine Collective.
In such a setting, she couldn't proclaim celebratory words as she usually would.
All the gods present looked up at their Lord of the Divine Collective, eyes filled with varying degrees of reverence.
After all, she was an ultimate goddess—destined to become an Almighty God capable of creating an entire great universe.
And they had the fortune of serving under such an ultimate existence, gazing upon her from such close distance.
Of course, not everyone held that deep reverence for Furina.
Naturally, that exception was the witches of the Witches' Council. Their personalities deviated from normal gods, and their ecstatic entanglement with the Heavenly Principle meant that, toward the strong, they showed respect—but not worship.
Barbeloth muttered softly, "As expected, the further you go, the greater the gap becomes. A tiny difference at the start leads to a chasm in the end."
Back when she was still the Astromancer Witch, even though there had been a large gap between her and Furina, the Hydro Archon of Fontaine, it wasn't enough to be insurmountable.
But now, while she had become a Primary God by exception, Furina had skyrocketed to the cosmic level—the gap between them now was wider than that between a human and a microbe.
Echidona folded her arms and looked at Furina with burning curiosity.
"An Almighty God… What kind of level is that, exactly? Authority, power… how does one create a universe? What about the secrets of the Divine Collective, the Pseudo Star Map Creation—what does that power really look like?"
She too had reached the level of an Exceptional Primary God. Her Sin Divine Seat had partially activated, granting her the ability to wield all concepts of greed, authority, and desire.
The Divine Seats of the Seven Deadly Sins. were vastly different from other Primordial Thrones—half a level higher, in fact. Their endpoint slightly surpassed the cosmic-structure level, brushing against weak single-universe scale.
And they would continue to grow in power alongside the strength of the Teyvat Universe. Naturally, other Thrones would also increase as the universe itself grew stronger.
Hearing faint whispers, Furina gave Neuvillette a subtle glance.
Neuvillette, holding his staff in both hands, lightly tapped it against the ground.
Dong—
"Silence—"
"What Lady Furina is about to explain, I will elaborate on in detail."
At the very moment Neuvillette struck the floor, all whispers ceased. After all, as a Primordial God at the cosmic-structure level, Neuvillette was seen by gods across the cosmos as a super deity—just below the Gods-above-Gods.
"First," Neuvillette began, "following the merger of the three major pantheons of the Fontaine Divine Collective, their internal structures must be unified. Other related matters shall be considered accordingly."
"Second, all spatiotemporal planes and galaxies within the main universe under the Divine Collective's domain—must be overseen and maintained by Primary Gods, to prevent the occurrence of civilization collapse or human extinction."
"If such catastrophic outcomes occur, the Divine Collective's total merit and reputation will decline."
"When the Divine Assembly is held every million years across the universe, the Human Principle will undoubtedly hold us accountable."
"I trust I need not elaborate on the severity of that."
At these words, the expressions of the assembled gods turned grim. Some high gods who believed they had been negligent were already drenched in cold sweat.
The Divine Assembly, established by the Human Principle, is convened once every million years. Aside from reorganizing the order of the universe, it serves as a forum for rewarding or punishing divine pantheons.
Rewards bring great benefits, but punishment… could be fatal.
At best, one's divine seat is downgraded. At worst, one might be stripped of their godhood entirely. In the most extreme cases, they would be thrown into the Abyss.
The aftermath of the first Assembly's punishments still lingered in memory—some gods and buddhas were directly sent to the Abyss as laborers.
The lightly punished became despised by Pan-Human History, and to this day have made no progress, even burdened by the curse of the Human Principle.
"Third matter—regarding the Pseudo Star Map Creation, Avesta. Lady Furina will establish a dedicated Trial Temple where it shall be housed."
"The gods of Zoroastrianism will have the first right to undergo the trial."
"If none of them succeed in becoming its master, the Celtic and Fontaine factions may then attempt the trial."
Furina raised her hand, and Neuvillette ceased his explanation.
Furina spoke, "Zoroastrian pantheon—you had better not disappoint me. This concerns the very foundation of the entire Divine Collective."
Ahura, the benevolent god, responded with impassioned reverence, "Exalted Supreme One, we of the Zoroastrian pantheon shall not disappoint you."
As he said this, he lifted his chin, casting a sidelong glance at Angra Mainyu, the evil god.
His adaptability far exceeded that of Angra Mainyu, with whom he had battled for tens of thousands of years.
The second master of the Divine Collective must surely be him.
Thinking this, his gaze shifted longingly to the empty seat beside Furina.
He was convinced—he would one day sit there.
Angra Mainyu fumed inwardly, but could only endure it. Ahura's adaptability was indeed superior.
But higher adaptability didn't guarantee success in the trial.
Mithra, Azhi Dahaka, and other Primary Gods also yearned for the opportunity. Although they had the qualifications, their adaptability was low. Even so, just having the qualification made them ecstatic.
Nuada sneered inwardly: Hmph, these fools… the greed in their eyes is practically dripping. I hope none of you succeed.
The only Supreme God present, Tet, rested her cheek in her hand, watching the emotions and desire written across the faces of the two pantheon leaders with amusement.
Is that all? If you can't even control your desire, you'll end up as its slave.
In that state, hoping to pass the trial is pure delusion.
If that were the case, the Pseudo Star Map Creation would've chosen its master long ago.
Furina watched the silent competition unfold among the gods and sighed inwardly.
"With their current state… can the second Pseudo Star Map Creation truly be awakened?"
"It feels like their chances of success aren't even as high as Neuvillette's."
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