CHAPTER 247: GREAT COSMIC EXPANSION AND CONDITIONS FOR THE TWO GIFT GAMES

All the gods across the universe gazed up at the eight gods above gods, who overlooked everything from the highest thrones, and at the single Creator they surrounded—the supreme being of the entire universe.

Yet, among those witnessing the Heavenly Principle’s visage, some were not only shaken, but also filled with disbelief.

Sangonomiya Kokomi covered her lips with her fingertips, her eyes reflecting Noah’s appearance—which merged perfectly with the deep impression in her memories.

That person! He... he is Lord Heavenly Principle!

After the initial disbelief came a quiet joy nestled in her heart.

Her heartbeat pounded uncontrollably.

On the Sumeru side, Nilou also covered her lips with both hands.

Though she’d been granted a key to the courtyard, she had been too busy with her pantheon’s matters to visit—and honestly, just going felt a little too embarrassing.

Diona, Tet, and all the True Gods of the Traveler Pantheon looked up in the same way.

They had only heard their God-King speak of the Heavenly Principle. Though curious, they could never have imagined it.

So perfect... a being embodying all the universe’s beauty.

Primary Gods and God-Kings of every pantheon bowed in reverence, from the depths of their souls.

Everything in the Teyvat Universe belonged to Noah, making him the master of all things.

All beings instinctively revered him, offering their utmost loyalty.

In this moment, all the gods in the universe looked up to the eight gods above gods and the one true Creator.

They saw the Creator raise a hand slightly, seemingly satisfied. Even just hearing his voice felt like a universal blessing.

"So there are currently 276,823 gods at or above True God level in the Teyvat Universe? Though negligible on a cosmic scale, overall, it’s still commendable."

Noah adjusted his posture and slowly scanned the gods as he spoke.

At present, the total number of gods in the Teyvat Universe exceeded 80 million. This meant that gods above True God tier made up only a sliver of that number.

While it seemed like a lot, it was minuscule compared to the size of a Great Universe. After all, the universe held more than a trillion galaxies.

But the potential of the pantheons had yet to be fully awakened.

Once awakened, even a minor pantheon’s highest god could become a Supreme God.

And for major pantheons, the baseline was Primordial God.

The gods here included all mythologies and even fictional divine tales developed since humanity first gained wisdom and built civilizations.

"What I’m about to say will determine the prosperity of the entire universe. Every god must remember it well~"

His tone was calm, yet carried authority and gentleness. This was the Voice of the Cosmos.

Only those at or above Almighty God level possessed the authority of the Voice of the Cosmos—words spoken became unchangeable universal laws.

The gods snapped out of their reverie, the Voice of the Cosmos ringing in their ears. Their expressions turned incomparably serious and focused, terrified of missing even a single word.

Though that, of course, was impossible.

"At present, Teyvat has ascended to a Great Universe, yet regions with civilization make up less than one hundred-millionth of its volume."

"The main universe must expand civilization across the cosmos. Regardless of race, any pantheon that spreads civilization to a galaxy will gain governing rights over it as a reward. Those stars and systems will automatically empower the pantheon."

"As for the major timelines, only the central solar system currently holds civilization. Even the most advanced civilizations have only just begun to venture beyond the solar system."

"These timelines must also spread civilization. Any form of civilization will do—whether elf, dwarf, beastman, yokai. As long as it’s a civilization, it counts."

The gods held their breath, silently listening to each word of the Creator.

Meanwhile, countless thoughts began to blossom in their minds.

Spread civilization! Spread it across the main universe and all the major timelines!

In truth, the gods had considered this before. But over the past thousand years, the pantheons had been busy digesting their expanded powers. At the same time, many of them were engaged in deliberate or incidental exchanges and trade.

Additionally, barren and uncivilized regions simply held little appeal.

Only the Adventurers’ Guild had consistently issued such missions.

So far, aside from a few small galaxies beyond the central one, only a handful had been partially developed by the lower and middle gods of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Now, if civilization was spread to an area, that region would be claimed by the pantheon that accomplished it!

For many pantheons, this was an extremely enticing prospect.

Previously, the lack of interest stemmed from not knowing whether spreading civilization yielded any benefits. Now, the rewards were laid bare.

The power of a galaxy would be added to a pantheon’s strength—that was essentially cosmic power.

It was akin to adding the world power of an entire world to one’s pantheon.

Hiss...

That meant within galaxies claimed by a pantheon, they would be invincible!

The eyes of every pantheon’s highest gods were ablaze.

This was simply too great a benefit!

"In addition, the countless planes within the Dimensional Gap still require divine expansion. Gods must be dispatched at all times to ensure the stability of these planes."

"This task shall be given to the lower-ranked gods."

"As long as a plane is successfully developed and its civilization remains stable, the god who develops it will become that plane’s manager, inheriting its Plane Power."

Noah continued.

True Gods and above would obtain universal power from the main universe and major timelines, while Upper Gods, Middle Gods, and Lower Gods would receive Plane Power.

This would significantly boost divine power tiers.

Though it offered little benefit to Supreme Gods and beyond...

That was fine, since Supreme Gods weren’t executors—they were supervisors.

Moreover, this had major implications for the pantheons, so even the Supreme Gods treated it with great importance.

After all, even if they didn’t benefit directly, their pantheons would.

Put simply, this was a territory grab. Whoever claimed it, kept it.

What pantheon ever thought its domain was big enough?

Noah continued:

"Secondly, once civilization spreads to over 30% of the universe, the Divine Collective Gift Game will begin."

"The forty-two Cosmologies will activate, and the Pseudo Star Map Creation will manifest."

"And when civilization covers over 60% of the universe, the Sun Authority Gift Game will begin. The twenty-four Solar Core Sovereignty authorities of the Almighty Gods and numerous authority fragments from Primordial and Supreme Gods will be distributed."

Noah watched the suddenly heated, almost explosive atmosphere, a slight curve on his lips.

The gods had yearned for these two Gift Games for a thousand years.

These Gift Games were the cosmic battlegrounds where pantheons could leap ahead in power and seize universal authorities.

Cosmologies and Solar Sovereignty.

Even without discussing the Cosmologies, just the Solar Sovereignty alone could drive gods mad with desire.

Especially the Solar Core Sovereignty—a power standing above all other Cosmologies and one of the most vital authorities in Pan-Human History.

In its complete form, Solar Sovereignty held power near that of a Holy God, bordering on Truth.

Even split into twenty-four pieces, each shard retained weak single universe-level power.

Though slightly inferior to an Almighty God, Solar Sovereignty was external power.

That meant whoever obtained it would gain weak single universe-level power immediately. Though the power was single-faceted, it was still that tier.

Moreover, it automatically gathered all pan-human energy related to the sun—be it faith, laws, or artifacts of civilization.

Even a True God could wield this authority, making it both a divine nuclear weapon and the ultimate cultivation cheat.

A god holding Solar Sovereignty could steadily ascend to the Supreme God tier.

It would allow pantheons to stably produce Supreme Gods.

After Noah finished speaking, he fell silent.

Then Phanes continued, picking up where he left off.

Her words remained centered on civilization expansion within the main universe, major timelines, and Pan-Human History.

She had always monitored the development of the cosmos, and now pointed out issues within those timelines’ civilizations one by one.

To pantheons that had contributed positively, she awarded blessings from Pan-Human History.

These rewards included, but were not limited to, enhanced True Names and increased favor from Pan-Human History.

These were granted based on Noah’s will. Had it been the old her, she wouldn’t have rewarded anyone at all.

After bestowing blessings to the deserving pantheons, she turned to those at fault.

Phanes issued judgments based on each pantheon’s mistakes.

Most penalties were light—minor infractions at best.

Those rewarded beamed with joy. Those punished looked miserable.

Major pantheons fared fine. But minor pantheons? They looked like they’d lost a parent.

Being small, they often tried shady shortcuts. But those backfired, earning them not only no benefit, but a stained reputation and now, penalties.

Next, the Red Dragon God Emperor spoke.

"I will grant all gods access to the Endless Planes..."

After that, she merely outlined some basic rules of the Endless Planes before falling silent.

The Endless Planes were something she had casually created while flying eternally through the Dimensional Gap.

As a Truth, and with weak single universe-tier power, a mere flap of her wings stirred the dimensional forces to form countless bubbles.

These bubbles were nascent plane worlds.

Some were as large as star systems. Others, as small as Earth.

But without additional laws, these planes could not give rise to life or civilization.

Thus, gods were needed to act as catalysts, to bring forth life and guide civilization.

For the Endless Planes, Lower Gods, Middle Gods, and Upper Gods were sufficient.

Upper Gods possessed the authority to create life within plane worlds.

Just like the Old Deus creating new races.

But at present, creating new races wasn’t necessary—simply bringing existing life seeds from the Great Universe into the plane worlds would suffice.

Compared to the Great Universe, time in the plane worlds passed much faster. One day in the main universe might equal a thousand years in a plane.

Thus, developing life in these planes was simple. Guiding civilization, however, was much more difficult.

Newborn civilizations are fragile. Disease, war, ideology—any of these could bring about their destruction.

...

Under the witness of the Heavenly Principle, the universal gathering of all divine beings came to an end.

This meeting determined the developmental direction of the Great Universe, and the mission every god must now uphold.

For some elder gods, this was the fourth such assembly. But for 99.999% of gods, it was their very first.

After the meeting was officially declared over, the Heavenly Principle vanished from sight, followed by the four Holy Gods and the four Almighty Gods.

Only when the Creator and the gods above gods who had presided over the meeting departed did the rest of the gods snap back to reality.

The smoldering tension finally erupted. The aura of hundreds of thousands of gods collided within the Divine Assembly Hall.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all of them vanished from their thrones in bursts of radiant law.

Like fireworks exploding across the sky, the gods returned to their own domains.

No shouts. No farewells.

They had no time to spare.

This was a land grab. Every pantheon was now a competitor. Even a moment of delay would mean eternal lag.

Every god understood this well: fall behind by one step, and you’ll need a thousand—a million—just to catch up.

...

The gods raced back to their realms.

Within each pantheon, Upper, Middle, and Lower Gods were summoned.

From Noah’s perspective:

Countless streams of divine light surged out from the central galaxy toward the farthest reaches of the cosmos.

Supreme Gods projected their divine wills toward the edges of the universe, encompassing entire superclusters as they claimed territory.

God-Kings tore open spacetime, leaping to distant deep-space regions, their divine power transforming into cosmic lighthouses that proclaimed their sovereignty.

Primary Gods led fleets of starships manned by True Gods, heading toward galaxies designated by their pantheon’s highest god.

Those starships carried Lower Gods and life seeds, preparing to create life-bearing planets.

Noah’s perspective shifted again—this time, to the Endless Planes.

Tens of millions of Lower Gods entered the Endless Planes.

In just the blink of an eye, countless plane worlds were seeded with life.

In those few blinks, months had already passed within the Endless Planes, enabling an incredibly rapid pace of development.

Noah raised his hand.

In it appeared a full projection of the Teyvat Universe.

A massive violet sphere enveloped a smaller central black sphere, surrounded by four rings of light.

Beyond the black core, countless specks of stardust orbited.

Those specks were the Endless Planes.

"This is how it should be. At most, within ten thousand years, civilization will span the cosmos, and the universe will enter its golden age."

"At that time, the two great Gift Games will commence, ushering the universe into the super single universe era."

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