Cherreads

Chapter 186 - Cosmic Nexus, A New Divine Hierarchy

Over a dozen conceptual blueprints appeared before Noah, each the size of a ping-pong ball, shaped like miniature celestial spheres.

As he extended his hand, the floating spheres formed a ring that spun slowly above his palm.

Each sphere radiated a unique cosmic aura, its underlying logic fundamentally different from the others.

One could say each was a rudimentary universe in itself.

"Pseudo Star Map Creations... Well, they're nowhere near the real thing. These are merely frameworks, only capable of generating star-destroying-level force at best. To fully form, they'll need the universe to continually feed and build them."

"The universe alone isn't enough. Humanity, gods—everything must grow and evolve in unison to complete the picture."

Noah examined them one by one.

Each conceptual blueprint represented the cosmology of a specific mythological system:

— Hinduism's incarnation and rebirth.

— Zoroastrianism's Avesta and dualism.

— Pure Land Buddhism's Three Thousand Worlds.

— Olympus' zodiac belt.

— Taoism's celestial mechanics and the red equator of heaven.

— The cosmologies of Celtic, Takamagahara, Norse, and others.

— And finally, the original Teyvat's animism.

Noah chuckled. "Why do these have to be called Pseudo Star Map Creations, just like in the Mondaiji World? It's going to be so confusing if we ever run into them."

Imagine both sides unleashing identical cosmologies—gods on either side would be totally lost, unable to tell friend from foe.

Still, the odds were slim. Even if they shared names, no two cosmologies could ever be exactly alike. Like snowflakes or leaves—similar, but never identical.

He kept the conceptual blueprint unique to original Teyvat and tossed the others into the Celestia Courtyard.

Cosmology seeds were immensely valuable. Any one of them could potentially elevate someone to a universe-level existence.

He decided that when one of the pantheons produced a goddess who reached the Supreme God level, she would be entrusted with her corresponding Star Map.

A fully formed Pseudo Star Map Creation was the entirety of a single universe—it was quite literally using an entire universe as a weapon.

In the ranks of future Supreme Gods, this would be top-tier power.

Of course, if another god managed to attune with a chart, they would earn the right to face its trials.

Still, Noah wasn't shy about admitting his bias: goddesses were simply more pleasant to look at.

He turned his gaze to the blueprint representing original Teyvat.

"Pseudo Star Map Creation: Animism. As the universe's core cosmology, its completeness is greater than that of the newer pantheons."

Teyvat's mythology was Gnostic in nature, and animism was a core tenet of Gnostic belief.

He sighed with a touch of regret. "At best, this chart might unleash a stellar-destroying strike... It's not really useful to me."

And that's assuming it targets a regular star—not Teyvat's sun, which contains the rules of the solar concept itself. Destroying that would be as hard as destroying the entire universe.

"If only I had a fully formed cosmology seed... I'd be grinning from ear to ear. But alas..."

His own power was the total sum of the Teyvat Universe. These seeds meant nothing to him.

"Forget it. Time to reorganize the divine structure."

He activated the Divine Pantheon Blueprint.

Now upgraded to Version 3.0, the Pantheon Blueprint had integrated the systems of every mythos it had absorbed.

It could no longer even be called just a "Pantheon System."

This was now a fully-fledged "Cosmic Nexus," hosting the structural systems of all pantheons.

"The Cosmic Nexus... The Teyvat main world is now completely a Little Garden-style structure," Noah mused. "It contains the full breadth of humanity's mythological systems. I can't treat the Pantheon Blueprint as just another support tool anymore."

"It's now the server that manages the entire universe."

He tapped his chin, considering. "Could the Little Garden's central control be something like this too?"

"Let's see... how should I restructure this?"

"Each pantheon should be divided into its own sector. Supreme Gods will oversee. Holy Gods will pass judgment."

"At the micro-level, autonomy will be handed to the Primary Gods of each system."

"Pantheons will now be classified as either Mythological Systems or Emerging Systems."

The Mythological Systems were the ancient and established pantheons. Even Teyvat's original Seven Nations fell under this category.

Emerging Systems referred to new pantheons created by newly ascended Primary Gods—such as Lumine's Traveler Pantheon.

Under Noah's will, the Divine Pantheon Blueprint—now the Cosmic Nexus—began to restructure itself.

Each pantheon was allocated a dedicated system sector.

This didn't restrict deities from moving between pantheons, of course. Divine migration was common. Greek gods, Norse gods, and Zoroastrian gods frequently held multiple identities.

However, establishing a new pantheon under the Nexus would now require meeting strict criteria.

Not just any Primary God could found a divine system.

First, the Primary God had to be a Tier-1 Primary God—one who had comprehended the Supreme Mystery and possessed the potential to become a Supreme God.

With over fifty Primary Gods now, Noah decided to create a new hierarchy for classification:

Three Tiers of Primary Gods:

Tier 3: Those who control 70% or more of a specific rule in Teyvat's universe.

Tier 2: Those who have taken a rule to its utmost limit—previously the peak rank of Archons.

Tier 1: Those who've comprehended the Supreme Mystery and stepped onto the path of Supreme Godhood.

Three Tiers of Supreme Gods:

Tier 3 Supreme God: Comprehended at least 10% of a Truth and control under 30% of all universal rules.

Tier 2 Supreme God: Control over 60% of all universal rules.

Tier 1 Supreme God: Control 100% of all rules or a portion of a Truth.

Among Supreme Gods, power was now measured by the number of rules controlled.

Even holding 30% of Teyvat's rules required mastery over more than ten thousand individual laws.

That alone was enough to create pocket realms or planetary worlds.

Strictly speaking, such beings were already "omniscient and omnipotent."

If someone reached the level of a single-universe entity, they'd rank as a three-digit being in the Little Garden multiverse.

With the current scale of the Teyvat Universe, even a Supreme God here would only be a four-digit rank over there—a relatively weak one.

Even Noah himself had yet to reach triple-digit status by their standards.

He continued refining the Nexus.

"Upper, Middle, and Lower Gods, as well as Quasi-Gods—I'll leave these tiers unchanged for now."

"Given the Teyvat Universe's growth and its enhanced rules, I'll set baseline equivalencies to Earth's standards:

Lower God = Small nation level.

Middle God = Large nation level.

Upper God = Continental level."

"Alright. Finalize the adjustments!"

In the next instant, every god currently using the Nexus was startled by the sudden changes.

Everyone chatting enthusiastically in the various chat groups was abruptly kicked out.

Before they could even react, the entire Pantheon Blueprint underwent a massive transformation.

A torrent of information surged into every deity's mind.

The Pantheon Blueprint had officially evolved into the "Cosmic Nexus."

From now on, the divine systems would be divided into segmented sectors, and the administrative rights of each were granted to their highest-ranking Primary God.

The current divine systems within the Teyvat Universe were as follows:

— Original Teyvat Pantheon: Liyue, Sumeru, Inazuma, Mondstadt, Fontaine, Snezhnaya, Abyss, Traveler Pantheon...

— Newly integrated pantheons: Olympus, Norse, Hindu, Takamagahara, Biblical, Celtic...

New divine rankings and classifications were implemented, with every Primary God and Supreme God reassessed and re-ranked.

The change was swift—and the moment it completed, the chat groups exploded.

"Whoa! The Divine Pantheon Blueprint has become the Cosmic Nexus!"

"Hey, Liyue got its own divine sector again!"

"Makes sense. Teyvat is way too massive now. It needed to decentralize and distribute control to macro-level managers."

"Traveler supremacy!"

"And the new divine hierarchy is insane!"

"Even if I don't fully get it, just hearing about it sounds nuts!"

"A Tier-2 Supreme God can create entire worlds! That's unfathomable!"

Even the Primary Gods' chat group fell silent for a moment.

This upgrade had clearly defined the path to becoming a Supreme God.

For those who had already grasped the Supreme Mystery, it was a beacon of clarity.

Even those who hadn't yet reached that stage now had a clear understanding of what it meant to ascend.

Eventually, the excitement died down as each divine faction returned to business. The conquest of a new pantheon always came with new responsibilities.

...

Sumeru.

The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Nahida returned with their Sumeru divine retinue.

Though the mission to conquer a world was of the highest level—known only to Vision holders and quasi-gods—to the public, it was merely their gods summoning worthy individuals for a major decree.

Some family members of Vision holders had heard fragments, but matters concerning gods and worlds were simply beyond mortal comprehension.

Inside the divine palace atop the great tree of Sumeru…

The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sat upon her divine throne, Nahida beside her. Along the sides of the palace sat the other gods.

At the highest positions sat Apep, the Dendro Dragon King in human form, and the Dream Witch, Nicole Reeyn.

Behind them were Vision holders and quasi-gods from Sumeru.

Though they were referred to as gods, most had not yet officially ascended—rewards had not yet been distributed.

But based on merit, nearly everyone present was eligible for godhood.

The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata radiated a gentle, merciful aura as she smiled.

"Although this time our mission didn't require tremendous effort and our merits aren't as plentiful as I'd hoped, ascending to godhood is still well within reach."

She gave a slightly helpless yet relieved sigh. She had anticipated a brutal war—but to her relief, there had been none. No casualties, either.

Still, just being part of a successful world conquest earned each of them a share of merit—especially those who followed a main Archon.

They hadn't done much—but that was only because there had been little for them to do.

This time, the Primary Gods had led the charge, overwhelming their foes by sheer numbers alone.

As a result, the Primary Gods earned the greatest share of merit—though not enough to ascend instantly to Supreme Godhood, it would allow them to temporarily unleash Supreme God power.

Of course, that applied to her peers. She was a different case altogether.

As the embodiment of the World Tree, her influence on the world may have diminished, but her ability to "record" had grown beyond comprehension.

The World Tree had now evolved with the strength of the Teyvat Universe into a grand archive that recorded all knowledge and memory within the cosmos.

With the World Tree, and her bond with Mio as fellow attendants of the Heavenly Principle, she was granted backdoor access to the "Kabbalah Truth," which had been opened to her for direct comprehension.

At present, she had already comprehended a tenth of the Truth. Combined with her identity as the World Tree's vessel, she had naturally mastered over a hundred universal rules.

After the reward distribution, she planned to formally ascend to Supreme Godhood.

In truth, her power was already on par with a Supreme God—only the title had yet to be formalized.

She had never considered asking the Heavenly Principle to grant her ascension directly. Doing so would undoubtedly damage her standing in his eyes.

"What Heaven gives, you may accept. What Heaven withholds, you must not demand—or risk divine displeasure."

At that moment, Apep—currently in the form of a green-haired woman in her early twenties with a perennially grumpy expression—sighed.

"To borrow Liyue's words, fate is a cruel mistress. Even the Dragon Kings of Fontaine and Liyue have become leading Primary Gods, while I remain an Upper God. I just hope this conquest will allow me to grasp enough laws to ascend."

Nicole Reeyn laughed heartily, entirely unbothered. "Haha! That's what you get for hiding instead of clinging to the right thigh early on. Look at me—clung on from day one, and now I'm already a Lower God. After this, I'll definitely be a Middle God—maybe even Upper if I'm lucky."

Apep snorted, "You gloating witch. I wasn't hiding—I was forced into slumber."

Nicole shrugged, "Let's be real. You just couldn't let go of your pride."

Apep glared, "Keep flapping your sharp tongue and I'll duel you right here."

Nearby, Kaveh leaned over to Alhaitham, whispering, "Hey, don't you think Nicole and the Dragon King are fated to clash? Every time they meet, it's fireworks."

Alhaitham remained deadpan. "If you're curious about theoretical philosophy, go ask Layla. Don't bother me."

Kaveh fumed, practically grinding his teeth. "Unbelievable! You're about to become a god and still act like you've got a stick up your—"

Alhaitham cut him off, "The two Archons are present. Quiet down."

Kaveh clamped his mouth shut, but his eyes practically blazed. "After this meeting, I swear I'll wring your neck."

Meanwhile, Nilou glanced around nervously, still unsure of what was happening.

She'd only just been introduced to the Pantheon Blueprint when the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata summoned her.

Then she'd been told they were heading to battle an otherworld. She had been utterly confused.

Nilou was just a moderately well-known dancer in Sumeru City. She had a Vision, yes—but no combat ability.

Trembling, she had followed the group of gods to the alien world.

She fully expected to die—but instead, she became an ambassador of friendship, performing dances and organizing cultural exchanges that won over the foreign gods.

Somehow, that earned her immense merit.

There were over a thousand Vision holders present—but the ones seated at the front were all quasi-gods.

Tighnari, Collei, Dehya, Cyno, Candace, Layla, Faruzan…

Just as Apep and Nicole were about to start another spat, Nahida raised her voice.

"Enough, you two. I have an important announcement."

"After merit calculation, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata will officially ascend to the rank of Supreme God. At that time, representatives from all pantheons will be invited to attend. We must not bring shame to Sumeru."

Her words exploded like a nuclear bomb.

"What?! Ascending to Supreme God?!"

"Her Majesty is ascending?!"

"Unbelievable! A Supreme God!"

"Are we dreaming right now?!"

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