As he slowly opened his eyes, Jiang Chen was met with the complete silence of his cosmos. He exhaled softly and shook his head. Even though he had long expected to reach this moment, he couldn't stop a faint sigh from escaping his lips.

Asclepius's body had absorbed far too much of his essence. Though the power of the Great Cosmos still lingered after he voluntarily relinquished control, it was clear that it could not be recovered anytime soon. The process of restoration would be long and uncertain, perhaps stretching into the distant future.

Maybe a hundred years.

Maybe a thousand.

Maybe even hundreds of thousands of years.

The only consolation was that with the fall of Asclepius, the threat of Omega's power had finally vanished. His presence had been completely erased from the perception of the gods.

Perhaps the only one still aware was Athena, and Jiang Chen was certain: the wise goddess would not reveal his secret.

That, at least, granted him time, time to act in the shadows.

"Next comes the Holy War." Gathering his thoughts, Jiang Chen rose to his feet, eyes burning with determination.

"Pegasus. Pegasus."

As he stepped out of his chamber, the Saints he passed greeted him.

Yet now, there was no awe in their tones, only warmth and camaraderie. The deference once granted to a Gold Saint was gone. His name, once Asclepius, bearer of the Serpent Cloth, was now simply Pegasus, the Bronze Saint.

With the change in name came a shift in status. He had relinquished the grandeur of the past and quietly blended into the Sanctuary's present.

Time flowed on, silent and unstoppable.

In what seemed the blink of an eye, decades had passed, and as the years slipped by, the Sanctuary gradually let go of its past. Athena's divine cosmos had gently erased the memories of that turbulent time from the minds of all within the Sanctuary.

The world itself had changed.

With the disappearance of Zeus, the God King, the fragmented pantheon of Earth's gods was slowly swept away, cleansed by the joined forces of Athena, Hades, and Poseidon. Only the Olympian Pantheon remained.

In this altered landscape, a divine war erupted. It was a struggle not between gods and mortals, but within the Olympian pantheon itself.

The first to challenge the Sanctuary was Ares, god of war. The ensuing Holy War spread like wildfire across the Earth. In the end, Ares was defeated by Athena's Sanctuary. Whispers soon spread that the god of war had been wounded not by a god, but by a mortal, one bearing the name Pegasus.

And with that revelation, the tide shifted once more. The once-wise Athena took on a new mantle: goddess of war.

As her dominion over the earth deepened, and her cosmos continued to expand, Athena gradually gained yet another title, goddess of the earth. Following Ares's fall, the Sanctuary continued its battles against other Gods.

One after another, the gods were defeated and with each victory, Athena's renown grew, until her name began to echo across the realms as a new Gaia. In just ten short years, the chaos of the divine realm had been silenced, leaving only three enduring divine powers upon the Earth:

The Earth Goddess Athena.

The Sea God Poseidon.

And Hades, King of the Underworld.

Even Apollo, once radiant and mighty, had vanished from the world and now, with the echoes of these three voices still ringing through the world...

Jiang Chen's time of return had almost arrived.

"Session complete."

"Commencing return."

"Please hold."

"Re-entry countdown initiated!"

"Nineteen… eighteen… seventeen…"

The familiar, ancient yet strangely mechanical voice echoed in Jiang Chen's mind. As the countdown reached its final seconds, a beam of divine light, visible only to Jiang Chen, descended from the heavens, engulfing him in an instant.

A dull pressure throbbed in his head, followed by the eerie sensation of weightlessness.

Moments later, his vision blurred, and once again, he was surrounded by a sea of pale mist. Then, as the light faded, his figure rematerialized within the Dimensional Nexus.

"I'm back." He murmured, releasing a slow, heavy breath.

His gaze instinctively swept the surroundings. All around him, others had also awakened from their dimensional journeys, some smiling, others excitedly discussing their experiences.

Jiang Chen didn't linger. He turned and walked quietly out of the Nexus Hall. But just as he crossed the threshold, his phone buzzed.

He glanced at the flickering name. The caller ID made him pause. After a brief hesitation, he accepted the connection. A glowing projection shimmered into view, Zhang Tao, his expression bright with relief.

"Mr. Jiang Chen, you're finally back!"

"Minister Zhang?" Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

Zhang Tao paused for a moment before replying, "Mr. Jiang, if you're free, could you come over? There's something I think you'll want to see."

"Understood." Jiang Chen nodded. "Give me a moment."

Splash.

A pulse of divine energy rippled outward as he stepped forward, instantly manipulating time and space to cut across countless dimensions.

…

Ministry of Dimensional Affairs.

Zhang Tao had just finished his sentence when a ripple formed in the air, and Jiang Chen stepped through it.

Startled at first, Zhang Tao quickly recognized him and let out a breath.

"Minister Zhang, what's the matter?" Jiang Chen asked, voice calm but curious.

Without another word, Zhang Tao produced an object from within his robe, something akin to a watch, though clearly far more sophisticated. Strange runes danced across its surface, radiating a mystical energy.

"What is this?" Jiang Chen asked, taking it instinctively.

As his fingers touched it, a stream of information surged directly into his mind. His eyes widened slightly. He turned his gaze toward Zhang Tao.

"You've noticed, haven't you?" Zhang Tao said with a grin. "This is a prototype, a portable gateway. A compressed version of the Dimensional Nexus. With this, you'll be able to enter alternate dimensions anytime, anywhere, and you won't have to travel to the Nexus Hall anymore. We're still in early-stage production, so distribution is limited. But for someone like you, it's essential."

Zhang Tao's voice held both respect and pride.

"Thank you." Jiang Chen took a deep breath, genuinely moved. This tool was undeniably a game-changer.

Ever since his first accidental entry into the Saint Seiya dimension, accessing other realms had always required a trip to the Dimensional Nexus. It had been a hassle, especially for someone engaged in so many layered worlds.

But now, with this compact artifact, those barriers had vanished.

"Mr. Jiang, you're far too polite." Zhang Tao shook his head with a smile. "We should be thanking you. The intelligence you provided last time was invaluable. Thanks to that, our operatives in the Dragon Ball World have grown rapidly. We now have multiple warriors who've reached above the Fourth Tier."

"One of them…" he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice, "is close to breaking into the Seventh Tier."

Jiang Chen's eyes glinted faintly at the news. It seemed the tides were truly shifting.

Zhang Tao's tone turned serious. As the Minister of Dimensional Advancement for the Great Xia Federation, he was well aware of just how monumental Jiang Chen's contributions had been.

Thanks to the surge of resources and techniques drawn from the Dragon Ball Realm, the Federation's overall combat power had skyrocketed, rising by nearly one-third in under six months.

(To Be Continued…)

This novel is finished and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395