As the Power Stone fused into him, Roland Phils immediately felt his psychic and spatial powers grow stronger.
This must be what the system had hinted at, the ability to enhance the strength of other Infinity Stones.
He clenched his fist slightly. Even without channeling any divine power, he could sense a force within him vast enough to tear open the heavens.
It was pure physical strength. No illusions, no tricks, just power in its most primal form, strong to the point of defying the natural order.
As the saying goes, strength alone can overwhelm ten techniques, and one strike can shatter countless methods. With this overwhelming force, Roland could easily rip apart space, blast apart stars, crush planets with his hands, and tread across galaxies. This was the terrifying might of a God of Power.
After savoring the overwhelming energy flowing through his body, Roland shifted his gaze to his divine status screen.
[God]: Roland Phils
[Divine Authority]: Spark of Life, Power of Light, Power of Reincarnation, Power of Death, Power of Mind, Power of Space, Power of Strength
[Titles]: Lord of Life, God of Light, Master of Reincarnation, Ruler of the Underworld, God of the Mind, God of Space, God of Power
[Rank]: Intermediate True God
[Divine Force]: 7900 strands
[Divine Fire]: Not yet ignited
[Faith]: 3 billion points
[Followers]: Humans, Xandarians, and the Four Races of his Divine Domain
[Life Spells]: Holy Light of Life lv8, Devour Vitality lv8, Revival of All Things lv8, Deadly Thorns lv8, Awakening Mechanical Life
[Light Spells]: Source of Magic lv7, Fruit of Light lv7, Gate of Passage lv7, Time-Space of Magic lv7
[Reincarnation Spells]: Foresight lv7, Blade of Karma lv7, Gate of Reincarnation lv7, Parade of Spirits lv7, Spirit Possession lv7, Soul Reaping lv7
[Death Spells]: Hellfire lv7, Eye of Judgment lv7, Undying Body lv7, Necromancy lv7, Death Coil lv7, Gate of the Underworld lv7
[Mind Spells]: Mind Reading lv8, Mind Control lv8, Mind Barrier lv8, Memory Alteration lv8, Memory Creation lv8
[Space Spells]: Space Shift lv8, Space Distortion lv8, Space Alteration lv8, Space Creation lv8, Space Freeze lv8
[Strength Spells]: Void-Breaking Fist lv8, Star-Crushing Punch lv8, Nine Steps of the Galaxy lv8, Force Field Mastery lv8, Celestial Pull lv8
[Divine Realms]: Domain of Life, Hell Dimension
"Not only did my Mind and Space abilities level up, even my Life-based powers grew stronger!" Roland was overjoyed.
It made sense. Life was his core authority, the first he ever obtained, and it was tied closely to his physical strength.
The other three, Light, Death, and Reincarnation, were primarily spiritual powers. When he had fused with the Mind Stone before, those three domains had advanced.
Now, with the Power Stone strengthening his body, it was natural that his Life abilities would advance as well.
Nodding with understanding, Roland shifted his focus to the Faith interface.
After the war on Xandar, the name of the Lord of Life had spread across the entire planet. Naturally, his number of followers had increased. Compared to before, his followers had more than doubled.
[Followers List]
Saints: 14 Apostles: 100,002 Fanatics: 6,312 Devout Believers: 95,222,186 True Believers: 210 million Shallow Believers: 800 million
With this massive following, Roland now gained nearly 600 million faith points every single day.
That meant he could condense six strands of divine power daily, or 2190 strands in a year.
In other words, even without absorbing more Infinity Stones, as long as he waited a year, he could still accumulate ten thousand strands of divine power and ignite his Divine Fire.
Once ignited, he would step into the rank of a Main God.
The thought made him smile with satisfaction.
Letting his ship maidens fight across the universe had indeed been the right decision. If he had stayed confined on Earth, reaching this level of growth would have taken years.
Truly, a person must move and struggle. Staying in one place only held back his greater destiny.
With that thought, a new idea flashed in Roland's mind.
Perhaps it was time to form a cosmic-level Holy Light Order, led by his ship maidens.
The divine light of the Lord of Life should not remain limited to Earth. It should spread to distant stars and worlds across the universe.
Such a move would greatly aid his future ascension to higher realms.
He had sixteen ship maidens in total, with two at the level of lower True Gods, two at sub-god level, and the rest at demi-god level.
Compared to the vast universe, sixteen was far too few. He needed more members.
His gaze turned toward the four great races within his Divine Realm. A plan began to form.
He would establish palaces throughout the cosmos. Each palace would be overseen by one or two ship maidens, while other members could be selected from among humans, Xandarians, and the four great races of his realm.
With each palace as a center, divine light could radiate outward, spreading the influence of the Lord of Life across the stars.
Thus, a cosmic Holy Light Order would naturally take shape.
And compared to relying only on ship maidens, this approach would spread his fame even further.
Without hesitation, Roland issued a divine decree to his ship maidens.
For now, ten palaces would be established. His own temple, the Life Shrine, would stand as the core.
Six palaces would be named after his six divine authorities, while four more would be created from the powers of his ship maidens: Bismarck's Power of Decay, Akagi's Phoenix Flame, Amagi's Eye of Truth, and Kaga's Frost.
These four would oversee their own palaces. The remaining six would be guarded by other ship maidens.
Effie and Laffey would guard the Palace of Light. Yorktown and Enterprise would oversee the Palace of Death. Tirpitz and Atago would guard the Palace of Reincarnation.
Icarus, Nymph, and Astraea would oversee the Palace of Space. Belfast and Sirius would take the Palace of Mind. Monica and Javelin would guard the Palace of Strength.
As for Roland himself, he would sit atop the Life Shrine, commanding all ten palaces.
The Life Shrine would stand at the peak of the pyramid, with the ten palaces as its wings, all serving the one true Lord of Life.
Once the divine decree was issued, Roland stood within his Divine Realm, extending his divine sense outward at unimaginable speed.
In an instant, he spread his awareness across the universe with Earth as the center, drawing a massive circle.
At ten points along the circle, he placed his divine marks.
Immediately, divine power surged forth like a cosmic tide.
Under its influence, countless dust and debris in space gathered together. At a speed visible to the naked eye, ten colossal palaces, each hundreds of thousands of kilometers wide, took shape.
Compared to the endless universe, they were like mere specks of dust. Yet bathed in Roland's divine radiance, they shone like lighthouses in the vast sea of stars, impossible to ignore.
As soon as the ten palaces were formed, an overwhelming tide of Life Power descended.
The barren palaces bloomed with vitality. Towering trees sprang up, rivers appeared out of nothing, and the desolate palaces transformed into paradises.
Then the Power and Light authorities descended as well.
Gravity systems formed, mirroring Earth's pull. Rays of divine sunlight illuminated the palaces, completing a perfect ecosystem.
All of this unfolded before the eyes of the ship maidens.
Yet none of them seemed surprised.
After all, creating worlds was nothing unusual for their master.
"How beautiful these palaces are!"
"Master, will we be in charge of them from now on?" a group of ship maidens asked, their eyes shining with excitement.
Roland nodded with a smile. "That's right. From today, you will each be the lords of these ten palaces, or if you prefer, royal consorts."
"Woohoo, Zzzz, we're royal consorts now! Come on, let's drink to celebrate!" Laffey cheered, raising her bottle.
"You silly girl, all you think about is drinking. Becoming consorts should be celebrated by serving our master instead. Allow me to help you bathe and dress, my lord," Atago said, her voice full of charm.
"That's right, let us serve you," Yorktown added with a bewitching smile.
"You two step aside. Today it's my turn with Belfast," Sirius, dressed in her maid uniform, declared quickly.
"That's right, it's our turn today," Belfast said, backing her up.
North House chuckled. "Weren't you two sworn rivals? Why are you suddenly working together?"
Hearing this, both Belfast and Sirius blushed.
"We're both our master's servants and sisters to one another. Constant fighting would only upset him. If we get along, he will be happier. For his sake, we can do anything," Belfast explained softly.
"That's right. We're the perfect maids. Of course we should get along," Sirius added.
Naturally, the others were skeptical.
"Really?" Enterprise arched a brow, teasing them with a grin.
"Hehe, you all know the truth. The only reason they teamed up is to deal with our master. Without joining forces, they wouldn't have survived that night," Atago teased with a sly smile.
The memory made both Belfast and Sirius blush even harder, wishing they could vanish.
They thought of that unforgettable night and fell silent.
"Anyway, enough of that. We're consorts now, so how should we celebrate? Drinking is still the best way. And if I get to drink alone with Master, that would be even better," Laffey said with a mischievous laugh.
"You little brat, we know what you're thinking. Hot wine or cold wine?" Atago smirked.
Caught, Laffey stuck out her tongue playfully.
"Laffey, what's hot wine and cold wine?" Javelin and Nymph asked curiously.
Laffey winked mysteriously. "That's something Effie taught me. A special way of drinking. But you need Master's help, or it won't work."
"We're not kids. And you're small too! Tell us, what kind of drinking needs Master's help?" Javelin pouted.
"Yeah, what's so strange about it?" Nymph asked with wide eyes.
"Well, how do I explain... it's unusual, but Master really enjoys it," Laffey whispered with a knowing smile.
"Then teach us! We want to learn too!" Javelin said quickly.
"Yes, we want to learn!" Nymph echoed.
"Alright, but later. Right now, I still want to drink with Master," Laffey said, sneaking toward Roland's side.
Before she could succeed, Atago grabbed her. "You little imp, you think you can leave us out?"
"Hehe, I only wanted to drink with Master," Laffey said sweetly.
"We want to drink with him too!" the ship maidens shouted together.
Roland sighed with a wry smile. These women were truly impossible.
What Laffey suggested might work with one or two, but with so many... it would be exhausting. Better not.
"Enough fooling around. Go prepare your own palaces. As for serving me, Akagi and the others have been gone for a while. Tonight, it's their turn," Roland said firmly.
"Yes, Master!" the ship maidens answered in unison.
With his words, none dared to argue.
"In that case, I'll decorate my palace in blue!"
"I'll make mine bright red!"
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