"Don't speak—just feel it, Fufu."
Noah whispered softly in Furina's ear, slowly releasing the ultimate mysteries beyond the single-universe level.
The Heavenly Principle was the universe itself—his very being was the ultimate cosmic mystery. Even the mere act of being touched by him could grant life within the universe unimaginable benefits.
Even Phanes and the others could gain from it—though their gains would be minimal.
Hum~
Furina felt herself enveloped in endless mysteries from beyond the universe, while her Pseudo Star Map Creation resonated within her, like a black hole constantly devouring these ultimate secrets.
These mysteries entered the Pseudo Star Map Creation, rapidly constructing the foundations of a universe.
Reflected in the primordial universe, this meant rapid cosmic evolution. In the blink of an eye, the universe gave birth to the two fundamental materials—matter and antimatter.
In this dualistic universe, all foundational elements carried opposing traits.
An endless joy that came from the soul itself washed over Furina, as intoxicating as the bliss she had felt when first receiving the Gift of Truth.
"Mmm…"
A muffled sound escaped her lips, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands.
Looking down, she saw that Lord Heavenly Principle's hand was already resting on her legs.
…
Elsewhere—
Hydro Archon Palace.
The Palais Mermonia served as the highest order center of the Divine Collective, but the Hydro Archon Palace was the private temple of Focalors, the supreme goddess herself.
"Isn't it a bit irresponsible to dump everything onto Neuvillette and Furina?"
Focalors, dressed in an elegant evening gown, lounged lazily in the garden pavilion. A small table before her was laden with dried fruits from across the cosmos, and tea brewed from Liyue immortal tea.
"Hmm… I suppose it's a bit like shirking, but Neuvillette really does seem to enjoy managing the Divine Collective's affairs…"
"Besides, he's always been the one managing them—I can't exactly interfere."
"And then there's Furina…"
Focalors sipped her tea elegantly. Though she and Furina were the same god, their ways of thinking differed greatly.
"Mm… Th-this feeling… like being kept warm by the whole universe! That's from Furina's side!"
In an instant, she was submerged in an ocean of cosmic mysteries.
Though she and Furina were two distinct individuals, their very existence was the same, and at a deeper level, their senses were connected.
"What is Furina… ah! O-oh! It's—it's Lord Heavenly Principle!"
"Wait! I—I haven't yet… mmm…"
Focalors instinctively hugged her arms, her flawless face flushing crimson.
She slipped from her chair in the pavilion, but before she hit the ground, flowers instantly grew from the earth, lifting her gently.
Curled up in the sea of blossoms, she bit her lip as if enduring an irresistible sensation.
Then, a voice called out.
"Huh~ High God Focalors, what are you doing?"
It was as if someone had struck her with a hammer—she sprang up, her breathing uneven, and looked over.
Suspended cross-legged in midair, the God of Games Tet—the third highest-ranking member of the Fontaine Pantheon after her and Neuvillette—was peering at her curiously.
Suppressing the deep, soul-shaking stimulation, Focalors pursed her lips and said, "O-oh… it's you, Tet. Did you… need something from me?"
"Hmm…"
At that moment, the sensation intensified. Focalors instinctively clutched her stomach, her body collapsing limply onto her throne.
Tet stared at her, bewildered. "Uh… are you sure you're alright? You look like you're in pain—your face is as red as boiled seafood, and even your limbs are shaking."
Focalors gritted her teeth. "Don't worry, Tet, I'm fine. What could possibly be wrong? I, Focalors, am the holder of a Pseudo Star Map Creation, the core of the Divine Collective, a great Almighty God—well, currently just a Primordial God, but… blah blah blah."
She kept shifting her focus, which only made Tet wipe away a bead of cold sweat.
"Uh… so, what's actually going on?"
Focalors pressed her trembling lips together. "It's just the Pseudo Star Map Creation reinforcing the universe's foundations—perfectly normal. Don't you see the cosmic mysteries radiating from me?"
Tet's mouth twitched. I don't have a Pseudo Star Map Creation—how would I know?
Focalors must just be a little on edge from her sudden surge in power.
"Got it, got it… Well, I came to you because I wanted to rack up some achievements. I figured you could assign me a divine office or two."
"I'm planning to head to the Endless Planes and gather some large planes without existing civilizations, then develop civilizations there to build my merits."
"After all, as the referee god designated by the Cosmic Nexus, I need to at least reach Primordial God level."
Her goal was beyond that—Almighty God, single-universe level. Though nothing like a Pseudo Star Map Creation holder such as Focalors, it would still be a solid single-universe tier.
Focalors quickly waved her off. "Alright, alright, I get it. Go find Neuvillette for the rest."
"Alright then, bye-bye."
Tet started to leave, but glanced back at Focalors' pained expression and scratched her head. "Are you really sure you're okay?"
Focalors ground her teeth. "I'm fine! Just go find Neuvillette already!"
Tet shrugged—whatever it was, it seemed beyond her comprehension—and vanished.
"Ah! I-I can't take it! L-let me catch my breath!"
Focalors curled up in the sea of flowers, looking as if she were about to be completely overwhelmed. Yet the aura around her only grew deeper.
Her divine body showed no physical changes—this was all mental.
But what struck her spirit directly manifested in her divine form.
Not wanting anyone to see her in this state, Focalors immediately sealed the Hydro Archon Palace against all visitors.
"Whoa!"
Just as the golden-haired Traveler set one foot inside the palace doors, she was flung out by irresistible force, landing on the steps and tumbling down them like a runaway wheel.
When she finally recovered, Lumine sat there, baffled. "Huh? What was that about? Focalors! I didn't even make it inside before you started turning guests away?"
"I came here with something important to discuss!"
At that moment, a small flower goddess—only at the Lower God level—appeared before Lumine, speaking timidly.
"Um… Lord God, the Hydro Archon Palace generally does not accept visitors."
"Both Lady Focalors and Lady Furina follow this rule."
"In fact, meeting Lady Furina is actually easier than meeting Lady Focalors."
"My suggestion is that you go directly to Lady Furina—it's all the same."
Lumine scratched her head in confusion. "Huh? Furina? Since when did she start separating herself so clearly like that?"
"Forget it. Thanks—I'll just go find Furina then."
Lumine went straight to the heart of Fontaine's court—the Palais Mermonia.
Even after the gods of the Fontaine Divine Collective had left, the bustle inside the Palais Mermonia had not lessened in the slightest.
Even back in the earliest days of Teyvat, the Palais Mermonia was one of the busiest places in the world. Now, it was countless times more hectic.
At present, the Palais Mermonia remained one of the largest structures in Fontaine, with an overall size comparable to a planet.
For an ordinary Lower God, it was indeed a colossal building—but as the center handling the affairs of an entire Divine Collective, it actually felt cramped.
This "small" Palais Mermonia processed matters from the Divine Collective's hundreds of billions of planes, tens of billions of galaxies, and tens of thousands of timelines.
The comings and goings of gods were constant. Lower Gods rotated between galaxies, planes, and timelines, exchanging assignments and responsibilities.
Those handling the work were all True Gods or higher, along with some Ex-Machina.
Information delivery was the duty of god-ranked Melusines, though there were many other races as well—it was common to see Flügel in enforcement uniforms passing by.
These public office gods were busy, but compared to Neuvillette—the second-in-command of Fontaine—this workload was nothing.
Of course, Neuvillette wasn't the sort to micromanage every minor matter. Trivial issues were left to public office gods and Ex-Machina skilled in case analysis.
He himself only handled major affairs: galaxies hosting divine-level civilizations, large planes, and the critical exchanges between timelines.
"Lord Neuvillette, sorry to disturb you. This stack of documents concerns a super-large plane in the Fontaine sector where human civilization has gone astray, disrupting the plane's order. This has caused a 62% drop in intelligent life, nearing the warning line for civilization collapse."
"Thirty-four percent of the public office gods maintaining the plane's order have perished from the backlash of its collapse."
"The plane's own consciousness and its Alaya consciousness have both been severely damaged and fallen into slumber."
Neuvillette frowned. "Over half the population of an entire super-large plane… gone."
In the Endless Planes, planes were divided into levels.
The size of a plane determined the limits it could reach.
The stronger the plane's origin, the greater its area; the stronger its origin, the higher its mystery.
A micro plane was no larger than a single continent on Earth, with a mystery level that could only produce minor ability users—mere superpowers or magic unable to advance life's tier or extend lifespans beyond the norm.
A small plane matched the size of a standard life-bearing planet, with mystery high enough to produce extraordinary beings—akin to Vision holders who had lit their Constellations. It could birth youkai, elves, and similar life forms.
A medium plane had a full celestial system with moons and other bodies, capable of producing gods.
A large plane was the size of a star system in the universe, with enough mystery to host a complete divine system.
The so-called divine realms of the Endless Planes were these large planes, each indirectly managing dozens or hundreds of medium and small planes.
The rulers of such divine realms were enforcement gods originating from the great universe.
A super-large plane, however, sat between a small universe and a large plane, with the smallest exceeding a hundred light-years across.
A super-large plane could directly give rise to True Gods.
"Even with all this effort to maintain order, there will always be accidents…"
Neuvillette sighed, a trace of sorrow in his voice.
Civilization's development inevitably faced unforeseen disruptions.
No one could predict what might suddenly shake the order of a human civilization.
Such reports piled high on his desk every day.
Viral crises, AI uprisings, virtual crises, genetic disasters, order collapses, law mutations, human principle extinction…
By now, there were over ten thousand recorded types of civilization crises.
There were even cases of Terminators harvesting a plane's resources, causing all of humanity to cease reproduction and self-destruct.
Of course, this only occurred in micro and small planes.
Such crises weren't due to divine negligence—many were things the gods couldn't know about immediately, often only becoming apparent after they had already happened.
True Gods and above could perceive a plane's past and future directly, but with so many planes in existence, even they couldn't handle them all.
Sigh…
Every single document on his desk represented a medium or larger plane suffering a civilization collapse—countless lives.
At present, Primary Gods and above within the Fontaine Divine Collective were still rare. Even Focalors could do nothing about this.
So these burdens all rested on his shoulders—matters only he could personally resolve.
With each signature, a document would transform into divine light and fly through a World Gate toward the troubled plane.
This alone could resolve most of that plane's problems.
Back when he was only a Supreme God, such work was exhausting. But now, as a Primordial God at the cosmic-structure level, handling even vast amounts of it no longer fatigued him.
Just then, the office door opened, and a Melusine stepped inside.
"Lord Neuvillette, the Supreme God of the Traveler pantheon is here to visit Lady Furina. Do you require a formal report?"
Neuvillette continued reviewing documents as he replied, "Looking for Lady Furina? If it's just a personal matter, no report is needed. If it concerns matters between our two pantheons, then we'll need a detailed discussion."
The Melusine said, "They only mentioned having something important to tell Lady Furina personally, and asked me not to pry further."
Neuvillette: "Then it's unrelated to the Palais Mermonia—no need to involve us."
The Traveler was a friend to many great gods. If it wasn't official business, it was Furina's affair, and he would not overstep the dignity of a High God.
…
After leaving the Melusine behind, Lumine headed straight for the top floor of the Palais Mermonia, to Furina's quarters.
"Furina! I'm here! I have something really important to discuss with you!"
Being someone accustomed to barging into other gods' temples, Lumine charged straight into Furina's room.
"I—uh…"
She hadn't even finished her sentence before she froze, wide-eyed, like a startled goose.
The sight before her nearly split her soul apart.
Her close friend Furina, wearing a thoroughly disheveled expression, was in the warm embrace of Lord Heavenly Principle. At that moment, he raised his head and gave Lumine an amused look.
A shiver ran through her. Realizing what she had walked in on, she gave a dry, nervous laugh.
"Heh… hehehe… S-sorry… m-maybe I came at the wrong time…"
Noah's lips curved in a teasing smile. "No—you came at exactly the right time."
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