A pure white and holy gentle radiance appeared before Phanes.
From the light emerged a sweet young girl with silver hair reaching her hips, wearing a sacred gown like a pure white wedding dress adorned with silver petals.
Behind her, the silhouette of a tree seemed to flash into existence, only to vanish in an instant.
She was none other than Mio, the Spirit of Origin of Kabbalah, ranked second among the four incarnations of Truth, second only to Phanes.
Although the incarnations of Truth differed in strength, the gap was not so vast that one could easily overcome another. If they truly fought, none would be able to utterly defeat the others.
Of course, that would be different if one attacked along the Truth Ring.
But that was essentially impossible. To do so would be to sever one's own path. If the universe were destroyed, it could still revive under Truth. But if Truth itself were destroyed, there would be no hope of restoration.
No—that was the case for ordinary universes. In Teyvat, such things could never happen. Even if the Truth Ring shattered, Lord Noah as Heavenly Principle could restore it with but a wave of his hand.
...
At this moment, Noah stood at the very peak of the auroral columns of light that shone from the north and south poles of the main universe, gazing down over the entire Teyvat Universe.
Behind him, a super single-universe level Truth Ring rotated slowly.
Everything within the Teyvat Universe was reflected in his eyes, and in his heart arose boundless comfort and satisfaction.
"By the years of Earth as measured by my own existence—disregarding the time-space order of Teyvat—since I first descended into this world until now, it has been less than ten thousand years. Yet I have developed Teyvat into a super single-universe with an internal multiverse."
The Teyvat main universe, surrounded by a dimensional gap thousands of times larger, was orbited by countless subsidiary universes operating under super-universe order. Around these spread an endless number of realms and small universes.
Some of those small universes had even been created by supreme gods.
In this way, the Teyvat Universe already resembled an internal multiverse.
Such a multiversal template required no further adjustment—only an increase of mass to advance to weak multiverse.
"Now all that remains is to let Truth govern these more than seven thousand Laws, then radiate them across the Teyvat Universe, raising its order to multiversal level. At that point, it will smoothly ascend into a super single-universe."
So-called multiversal order was nothing less than Laws governing every universe and all that existed within them.
Though divided into main and subsidiary universes, their connection was not true order—merely linkage.
Simply put, a strong single-universe system was like a mountain king, while a super single-universe system was like a local government. And Laws were the lawful foundation that made such a government legitimate.
Even if Teyvat was unlike ordinary universes, holding absolute control over its subsidiary universes, that still held true.
Phanes, Ophis, Mio, and Dream appeared behind Noah.
Phanes' golden eyes burned with fervor. "So the most crucial step has finally come, my Lord Heavenly Principle."
She had thought that Teyvat would only reach super single-universe when its civilizations matured to their peak.
Yet Lord Heavenly Principle had directly plucked nearly every kind of Law from the Imaginary Tree, and their total mass had already reached super single-universe level.
He always shocked her in ways she never foresaw.
Ophis smiled gently. "Using Laws to strengthen Truth in reverse… I can sense that my Ouroboros faction alone holds over nineteen hundred Laws. That is more than enough for me to reach super single-universe."
Dream folded her arms, pressing her chest flat. "If I ascend to super single-universe, I'll be able to mass-produce cosmos-structured small universes in my sleep. If I exert myself, I could even mass-produce weak single-universes without issue."
Mio clapped her hands lightly. "I don't have such exaggerated power. At most, I can only guide all newborn universes onto the right path."
Noah glanced at Dream and chuckled. "It seems, Dream, that you have taken on the Imaginary Tree's role of birthing universes."
"However, at present, what Teyvat lacks is Omega—the ability to harmlessly dismantle and recycle abnormal universes that it no longer needs."
Now Teyvat possessed Alpha of Beginning, but no Omega of End. That portion of structure was missing.
This was the essential Truth required for a super single-universe to advance toward the multiverse. Without it, one could only remain stuck at the super single-universe stage.
Ouroboros, Kabbalah, Dream, Alpha, Omega, and Pan-Human—these six supreme Truths were indispensable for a universe to ascend to multiversal level.
Those great universes stalled at super single-universe were almost always missing one or two, or even three of these Truths.
Take the Dragon Ball Universe, for instance. The Truths it contained could never exceed four—at most, perhaps three. Among super single-universes, the Dragon Ball Universe was undoubtedly at the very bottom. That it even reached super single-universe level at all was sheer luck.
"Are you ready? I'm beginning."
Noah spoke gently, and then the Truth Ring behind him began to shatter.
Crack, crack, crack—
Brilliant multicolored radiance illuminated the entire Teyvat Universe. The light of over seven thousand Laws gradually filled every corner of Teyvat.
The radiant glow pierced beyond the boundaries of the Teyvat Universe. The degree of its command could no longer be concealed by barriers—it could be seen throughout the entire Tree and Sea.
Even the highest point of the Imaginary Tree was bathed in its light.
For this was the moment an internal multiversal great universe began its advancement into a super single-universe.
And yet, the total mass of the Imaginary Tree itself was no more than that of a super single-universe. Of course, even among super single-universes there were vast differences.
It was like comparing lakes: an artificial pond was a lake, and so too was the Caspian Sea—but could their scale be the same?
After all, the Imaginary Tree was merely one-third of the structure of a weak multiverse.
Then—the Great Will of the Tree and Sea descended. Upon the highest strata of the Tree and Sea, within its multiversal order, a vortex formed. That vortex resembled an eye composed of countless universes' worth of power.
The entire focus of the Tree and Sea was now locked onto the Teyvat Universe, which was ascending into super single-universe.
From the multiverse, an invisible, intangible, unfathomable will descended silently upon the Teyvat Universe, which was in the midst of advancing into a super single-universe internal multiverse.
This power could not be seen, touched, known, or even conceived.
"Hmph, I knew this would happen. Do you really think I'm just some ordinary super single-universe?"
Noah, who was presiding over Teyvat's ascension, had long anticipated the descent of the Great Will of the Tree and Sea. And just as the ascension began, that will arrived.
Before Noah could even respond, the system's alarms rang out.
[Warning, warning. An unknown Super-Primeval Power of multiversal mass from the Great Will of the Tree and Sea is covering the entire Teyvat Universe.]
[This Super-Primeval Power has been named Quantum Imaginary Force by the system based on its characteristics.]
Hearing this designation, Noah couldn't help but complain. It would have been simpler just to call it Tree and Sea Force.
Although the Great Will of the Tree and Sea had struck, Noah felt no panic at all.
"Super-Primeval Power, surpassing six Truths, multiversal level… Its mass is far greater than mine. I thought you'd subtly and imperceptibly corrode Teyvat, but instead you chose something this direct and crude."
At this, Noah's lips curved in disdain.
"System, calculate the probability of the Great Will of the Tree and Sea successfully eroding Teyvat."
[Ding! Calculating.]
[Calculation complete. Probability equals absolute zero.]
"Then calculate the success rate of Teyvat pretending to be eroded by the Great Will of the Tree and Sea."
[Ding! Calculating.]
[Ding! Calculation complete. Probability approximately 99.63856…%]
"Now calculate: after pretending to be eroded, how many resources will the Great Will of the Tree and Sea invest into Teyvat?"
[Ding! Calculation complete. Probability approaches 100%.]
Noah's grin widened recklessly.
The Great Will of the Tree and Sea merely wanted to make Teyvat part of its structure. Fine, then—he would let Teyvat become part of it.
For a multiverse, anywhere covered by Super-Primeval Power became part of its structure.
Then let that Super-Primeval Power cover it.
Normally, once covered by another's Super-Primeval Power within their domain, there would be no way to separate again—akin to severing one's own limbs.
But with a single command, the system could detach Teyvat outright, taking with it all that the Tree and Sea had invested.
And that wasn't even the boldest part. Noah planned to play the Tree and Sea a truly ruthless trick.
For a multiversal structure, the Great Will of the Tree and Sea would never directly manage it. Instead, it would delegate a fragment of its consciousness to serve as the governing will of that structure.
Just like the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta, each had their own consciousness.
That consciousness would govern all the laws of the structure.
Here lay the opportunity: Noah directly handed Teyvat's secondary authority to that consciousness. Then, using the system's absolute control, he seized that consciousness and forced it to continuously send false reports back to the Tree and Sea's Great Will, assuring it that everything was fine.
Meanwhile, he would expand Teyvat's boundaries, encroaching upon the Imaginary Tree, the Sea of Quanta, and the Dimensional Realm.
Since Teyvat was already one of the universes in the structure, forming a competitive cycle was only natural.
By the time the Great Will of the Tree and Sea realized something was wrong, Teyvat would already have become its most critical universe-structure.
In human terms: only the brain would still be yours—the body would no longer belong to you.
When that time came, even if the Great Will of the Tree and Sea wanted to resist, it would be powerless, forced to watch as Teyvat devoured it piece by piece.
"At first, I only wanted to reap some benefits. But since you forced my hand with this move, don't blame me for giving you something big in return."
Of course, at the start it was simply because his own strength was insufficient.
Now, as Noah felt the Super-Primeval Power of the Tree and Sea completely shroud every corner of Teyvat, down to every fundamental particle of matter, he grinned and directly transferred Teyvat's secondary authority outward.
This secondary authority was at the level of a standard super single-universe. Noah completely concealed his true self behind it.
Teyvat's absolute authority was Noah himself. Unlike other universes, he would never set the authority of his universe as an object.
The Great Will of the Tree and Sea, upon receiving the full authority of the Teyvat Universe, revealed its joy. Throughout the Tree and Sea, the ocean of rules surged in response.
An intangible consciousness descended into the Cosmic Nexus of the Teyvat Universe.
The Cosmic Nexus was indeed the control platform of the entire Teyvat Universe—its operational core. But the true heart lay in the Temple of Truth within Eden, which Noah concealed completely.
At this moment, Ophis, Phanes, and Mio remained utterly unaware.
With their current strength, they could not perceive the presence of Super-Primeval Power. Only once they themselves ascended to super single-universe would they be able to sense it. But even then, they would never be capable of generating such power.
The only ones able to wield Super-Primeval Power were the First Causes of great worlds—the origin from which a universe began from nothing.
Unless Noah chose to share that power with them, they could not touch it.
"It's here! Hahahahaha…" Noah laughed aloud.
Phanes and the others, who were exerting all their strength to command over seven thousand Laws to form multiversal order and raise the mass of Truth, turned their gazes to Noah.
"What has arrived?"
"Why did you suddenly laugh?"
"Is it the joy of the universe's ascension?"
At that moment, Phanes suddenly lifted her head, her expression filled with disbelief.
She beheld, at the dome of the Tree and Sea's highest reaches, a vortex vast enough to contain untold numbers of great universes.
Streams of Laws and Truths, along with every known and unknown force, poured down like a flood into the ascending Teyvat Universe.
There was no obstruction, no resistance—it was as if this was how it had always meant to be.
Even Ophis, normally so indifferent, opened her mouth slightly in shock, her eyes full of astonishment.
"Such an unbelievable gift… What in the world is happening?"
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