“Forgive my boldness, but may I ask—do you have some particular intention in taking these souls?” Although he had just been reprimanded, Hermes still could not help asking on behalf of many of his fellow gods.
After all, these souls had once belonged to ancient heroes, beloved family members of the gods, cherished lovers, or legendary adventurers.
“For someone of your stature, the souls of ordinary people shouldn’t hold any particular significance, should they?” In truth, even for the gods of this world, the souls of the lower world’s children had no practical use.
They collected them either because they found the radiance such souls emitted to be beautiful, or because they had once shared an unforgettable journey with the soul in life…
In short, their value was purely emotional.
But those two reasons were fundamentally different.
The former were merely collectors.
Under the deterrence of an otherworldly Celestial Emperor’s might, they would never dare cause trouble for him.
The latter, however—those gods who regarded members of their familias as family, lovers, or dear companions—if they discovered their children’s souls had been taken, were entirely capable of coming to stake their lives over it.
“Relax.
I am no evil god.
Naturally, I have no intention of damaging these souls that once created so many legends.” The Celestial Emperor lowered his gaze.
With a light flick of his fingertip, the hundreds of thousands of drifting soul-lights around him were calmly drawn into his palm.
“My world is short on population.
Let them become the first citizens of the Celestial Court.” They were, after all, the very essence of a world.
With sufficient divine power to reconstruct their bodies and awaken their consciousness, Tian’el would gain a batch of remarkably high-quality inhabitants.
Yes.
Gratitude for nature’s bounty.
“Citizens?
Wait—are you saying you intend to revive all of these souls?” Hermes’ eyes widened as he blurted out in shock.
“Something like that…
is actually possible?” Beside him, Ares, Eris, and the other subordinate gods stood frozen, their expressions completely losing composure.
It had to be understood that although the gods here possessed authority over sending souls into reincarnation, they were still incapable of true resurrection or granting immortality.
Of course, there were a few rare exceptions.
One was the legendary Philosopher’s Stone accidentally created by a fabled sage.
Additionally, certain magic spells could produce revival effects under very specific circumstances.
But miracles that required the perfect convergence of time, place, and fate were not considered part of normal expectations.
After the Philosopher’s Stone shattered, that sage never succeeded in recreating it.
The newly devised secret art of immortality instead transformed him into a skeleton who felt neither hunger nor thirst and could no longer update his status.
As for resurrection, it was even less reliable.
In the original account, the sage possessed related magic for over eight hundred years, yet never once succeeded.
Only when the protagonist needed to revive the dragon girl Wiene did it inexplicably work.
Because of this, once a god fell in love with a mortal, they could only watch helplessly as their lover aged and died, then pursue that soul again in its next reincarnation.
Incidentally, gods were also incapable of having children with their lovers in the lower world.
No divine bloodlines or demigods existed in this cosmology.
There were no ancestor-deities elevated through ancestral worship, nor philosopher-gods raised through religion.
Heaven consisted solely of natural gods who were born ageless and undying.
“The gods have their limits, but the Celestial Emperor has none.” Tian’el smiled faintly.
At least when facing the gods of this world, he was confident enough to say that.
As expected, the gazes of the subordinate gods instantly grew fervent.
After a thousand years in the lower world, which god did not harbor one or two unforgettable white moons in their heart—regrets they had been powerless to change?
“I understand now, O Lord!
I must have idled away hundreds of millions of years of my existence just to await your sovereign descent!” Hermes rubbed his hands excitedly, looking as though he might dig out his own heart to prove his loyalty, drawing disdainful looks from Ares and the other subordinate gods.
And then they promptly discarded their own dignity as well— “That’s right!
Great Lord!
You are the warm breeze of early spring, the reborn morning sun, the long-awaited sweet rain for us gods!” “I would compose poems for you all my life, embedding a spirit gem in every line…” Watching the gods suddenly compete in flattery and sycophancy, Tian’el felt a vein throb at his temple.
Beneath his dark sleeve, his fingers curled unconsciously as goosebumps crept up his spine.
“Enough.” He could tolerate no more.
With a single grasp of his five fingers, every sound within several miles was expelled, forcibly cutting off the wave of nauseating praise.
“If you wish to show loyalty, then prove it with action.
Do not wag your tongues before me.” His voice was not loud, his expression devoid of emotion—yet the gathered gods instantly fell silent.
Without another word, Tian’el turned and walked toward the corner where Sanjouno Haruhime had been secretly watching him.
Taking the little shrine maiden’s slender hand, he headed toward the military camp.
“All of you, follow!” …
At the same time, in the Heavenly Realm of the Vast Expanse, within Maitreya Palace.
When Tian’el’s true body descended into the other world, a strand of his will remained behind.
The next instant, the entire sky of the Vast Expanse shifted in color.
Countless fragments of Heaven’s origin answered the command of the Celestial Emperor’s authority, surging from all directions and converging into a massive vortex within Maitreya Palace.
Boom—!
An invisible will resonated with billions of laws.
At the center of the vast convergence of origin power, a supremely sacred Dharma Body stepped forward.
Upon his head rested a twelve-tasseled crown, its hanging beads formed from five-colored radiance.
Upon his body flowed a dragon robe adorned with twelve emblems—sun, moon, stars, mountain, dragon, and other totems roaming freely across its surface.
Clang— Bearing the authority of the Celestial Emperor and the weight of the Three Realms, Tian’el’s Dharma Body manifested under the name Sovereign of High Heaven finally solidified.
His features were identical to his true body, yet carried an additional measure of ancient majesty.
As the saying goes, “As long as one’s thinking does not stagnate, there will always be more solutions than difficulties.” Having ascended in a single step to supreme power, Tian’el had no intention of confining himself within the Vast Expanse, forever suppressing the Three Realms.
Now that he could temporarily separate the rank of Celestial Emperor, his true body could travel to other worlds and act freely.
There was no need to worry about safety, either.
Since forming contracts with Ares and the other subordinate gods, Tian’el’s gains had not been limited to the authorities they carried.
Through them, he had also discerned the fundamental mode of existence of the gods of this world.
To put it plainly, he had learned how to link his own will to the origin of Heaven—so that even if he died, he could revive from within that origin.
Moreover, with the transmigration function of his cheat, he did not need to worry about this endless revival mechanism failing due to severed connections in another world.
In theory, as Celestial Emperor, he ought to have possessed such traits from the start.
It was merely that he had only recently taken office, and many effects of his imperial authority had yet to be fully explored.
With that thought, Tian’el reached out and tore open the void.
The more than eight hundred thousand souls he had automatically gathered in the other world gradually filled the entirety of Maitreya Palace.
Excellent.
Immigration successful.
Time to change their household registration.