The moment the Cosmic Nexus distributed "merits," all the gods across the Teyvat Universe sensed it, lifting their heads to look toward the heavens.
They saw a sky ablaze with dazzling meteor showers cascading down to the earth.
Each falling star was imbued with the power of the universe's "Sovereign." Before such power, even gods seemed as small and fragile as mortals.
Buzz…
Throughout the Teyvat Main World and every parallel realm and timeline, people looked up in awe at the fantastical, beautiful sky.
For many worlds and timespaces, this was the first time witnessing such a magnificent miracle.
Even in the Teyvat Main World, where countless miracles had occurred, no one had ever seen a dreamlike meteor shower of this scale.
"Wow! So beautiful! Was this miracle created by a god?!"
"It's too stunning!"
"The gods are so whimsical—creating such a beautiful sky!"
"Quick, make a wish! Maybe the gods will grant it!"
While people across worlds marveled at the sky, pillars of "Apotheosis Light" rose from the ground in the Main World and across various spacetimes.
Most of the quasi-gods who participated in the missions were now ascending, riding the light of faith into the heavens.
In Mondstadt, sixteen pillars of light shot upward:
Lisa, Diluc, Kaeya, Noelle, Albedo, Amber, Razor, Fischl, Rosaria, Sucrose, Eula, Collei, Barbara, Bennett, Diona, and Mika.
Under the gaze of the citizens of Mondstadt, they ascended upon gentle, holy light.
When Jean had ascended, the people had witnessed it—so they immediately understood what was happening now.
"Oh my god! Lord Diluc, Master Albedo, Lady Barbara—they're all ascending just like Lady Vanessa and Acting Grand Master Jean!"
"Even Eula, from the old Lawrence clan, has become a god!"
"How can you say that? Lady Eula's godhood proves her goodness."
"Exactly. Jean has always said that only those who fight for the world's beauty can become gods."
"Right. You owe Lady Eula—no, Goddess Eula—an apology."
"I-I'm sorry… I was wrong… Please forgive me..."
As she ascended, Eula heard the sincere voices of the people below, causing her to press her lips together as her eyes grew misty.
She had finally been acknowledged by Mondstadt's citizens. She was becoming a god, and she could feel the genuine sincerity of their apologies.
Noelle blinked excitedly: "Yay! I've become a god! Now I'll definitely pass the Knights of Favonius exam!"
Lisa chuckled: "Miss Noelle really is persistent." Was becoming a god really just about passing the knight's exam for her?
Fischl spread her arms dramatically and declared:
"I, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, have now unlocked my true power! Oz, my familiar, can you feel the surge of my strength?"
Oz replied dutifully: "I can feel it, milady."
Kaeya smiled: "Hmm, what should I do after becoming a god? I guess I'll keep protecting Mondstadt as usual. Besides that, there are always world missions, right, Diluc?"
But Diluc was staring intently toward Dawn Winery.
Two "meteors" had landed behind the winery, near the family's gravesite. His eyes widened slightly.
"Father, Mother…"
He turned abruptly toward his foster brother.
"Kaeya… you..."
Kaeya shrugged nonchalantly: "You can only use your wish to revive one person. I didn't really have a wish anyway. Besides, your parents are my parents too, aren't they?"
At that moment, a miserable scream shattered the emotional atmosphere.
"Aiya aiya aiya... I'm falling! I'm falling! Ouch, that hurts!"
Everyone watched as, from one of the ascending pillars of light, Bennett suddenly plummeted from midair and landed with a loud thud, a huge bump forming on his head.
The once solemn apotheosis ceremony instantly became a burst of laughter throughout Mondstadt.
"Hahahahahaha—"
"Even while becoming a god, Bennett's bad luck persists!"
"Not even the gods can withstand Bennett's misfortune!"
The laughter hadn't even fully subsided when another panicked voice drew their attention.
"Aaaahhh! Why! Why is this happening! God of Wine? I don't want to be the God of Wine! I hate alcohol!"
Diona was losing her mind within her pillar of light. Below, her worried father kept gulping nervously.
Not just her father—the entire city's old drunkards immediately dropped to their knees in reverence.
"Oh mighty God of Wine, bless me with endless, eternal wine!"
Even Venti, witnessing Diona's new title, drooled openly without realizing.
"God of Wine... God of Wine... slurp... endless divine wine, yes!"
He quickly clasped his hands and began kowtowing furiously toward Celestia.
"Praise the Heavenly Principle, glory to the Heavenly Principle, I, Venti, balabala..."
Jean looked at the Wind God, who had fallen to the ground at the mere mention of "God of Wine," and sighed awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Jean herself received her merit reward. Her divinity rapidly rose, the "quality" and "quantity" of her divine power soaring.
The "Authorities" and "Rules" she controlled strengthened dramatically.
Crack—
Upon breaking through a critical point, she merged with the very Rules themselves.
For an instant, her divine body became pure Rule, before condensing back into a godly form.
Jean had become an "Upper God," an embodiment of Rule.
Venti came to his senses and looked toward his Mondstadt Pantheon's first human-born Upper God.
"An Upper God at last. Mondstadt finally has someone respectable as our face."
He glanced toward the direction of the Stormterror's Lair, sighing a little.
Twilight—poor Dvalin. Despite reaching the peak of Upper God rank after sharing in Venti's merit, he still hadn't crossed into the Primary God level.
Until a few more Primary Gods appeared, Venti himself would have to bear the burden of leadership.
Otherwise, if he slacked off too much, he might be demoted.
Still, with his strength as a First-tier Primary God, the Mondstadt Pantheon was securely among the strongest pantheons.
Buzz—
Venti's face lit up with excitement: "My merits have finally arrived!"
Already a First-tier Primary God, his comprehension of Truth was slow, but he could still amass more "Rules."
He exchanged all his merit for Rules without hesitation.
Spreading his arms joyfully, he closed his eyes to welcome the blessings from above.
One Rule after another merged into his godhood.
Opening his eyes moments later, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad, not bad. Twenty-one Rules. Little by little, they add up."
"Now, let's check my new ranking—"
Upon seeing the updated list, Venti's eyes bulged in disbelief.
"Pfft! What the heck?!"
Venti's eyes widened in disbelief. Even though the Cosmic Nexus rankings weren't something you physically looked at, he still couldn't help rubbing his eyes, taking a sharp breath.
"Hiss—Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is about to ascend to Supreme God! She's leaving us in the dust!"
He was all too aware of how incredibly difficult it was to comprehend "Truth." Even at his own speed, it would take decades to reach Supreme God status.
And that was under the current state of the Teyvat Universe—if the universe evolved further and the quality of "Truth" increased, it would become even harder to comprehend, making the time needed to ascend exponentially longer.
"I get it now... Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is the incarnation of the World Tree. As the universe grows stronger, so does the World Tree. It probably even assists in understanding Truth and Rules!"
Venti's eyes were filled with sour jealousy. Having a special nature made all the difference—after all, even in Phanes' era, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had a "get-out-of-death-free card."
"A Supreme God... There will definitely be a festival. I should start thinking about what gift to bring."
Originally, the establishment of new pantheons and the explosion of divine numbers due to the distribution of merits had left the Primary Gods in a celebratory mood.
But now, the news of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's imminent ascension had overshadowed all that.
After all, she would be the first to ascend to Supreme God through her own efforts rather than being appointed by the Heavenly Principle—an extraordinary achievement.
Zhongli stood with his hands behind his back, watching the columns of divine light rising from every corner of Liyue, then turned his gaze toward Sumeru, sighing softly.
"With her merits and unique existence, it's only natural she would surpass all others."
"This celebration will surely be a thousand times grander than the Sabzeruz Festival three thousand years ago."
In the form of a ten-year-old girl, Azhdaha crossed her arms and glanced at the elderly-looking Zhongli.
"I thought you, the oldest one among us, would be the first to ascend to Supreme God. Who knew it would be the Dendro Archon."
Guizhong chuckled: "Morax, isn't he approaching seven thousand years old now? Among the gods, that's still relatively young. Look at Olympus and Asgard—those gods are hundreds of thousands of years old and still full of vigor. But Morax…"
Marchosius, patting his teddy-bear-like chest, added: "Morax's mindset is the problem. See, I get dragged around every day by Xiangling to cook. Being immersed in Liyue's lively spirit, I feel two thousand years younger!"
Zhongli shook his head: "Enough about me. For this celebration, I intend to present the Dendro Archon with meticulously crafted tea from Qingce Village and a set of personally polished glazed teacups."
Guizhong teased: "You might as well give her some glazed lilies."
Marchosius chimed in: "Or I could personally cook for the Dendro Archon. That should show enough sincerity."
As they chatted, Zhongli looked at the flourishing Liyue Harbor, listening to the joyous voices of its people after the Apotheosis Ceremony.
"Grandma Ping, I became a god!"
"I always knew you would, Yaoyao."
"Baizhu, now that you've become a god, your wish has come true, hasn't it?"
"Eternal life and endless medical skill... and yet, even as a god, there are still illnesses of the heart that cannot be cured."
"Qiqi has become a god too. I guess she's not a zombie anymore?"
"Jiaming, look! I've become a god! Father, you can rest easy now."
"Master Yun Jin has become a god! Will we still see her performances?"
"Don't worry. I am now the Goddess of Opera. I will always be with the stage."
"Xingqiu, you've ascended too!"
"Congratulations to us both, Chongyun."
"Yelan, congratulations on becoming a god."
"Ningguang, have you become an Upper God?"
"Yes."
"Boss! Wow, I can't believe you've become a god! It's unbelievable!"
"Of course. My Crux Fleet will..."
...
Meanwhile, similar celebrations unfolded in Inazuma, Sumeru, and Fontaine. Only Snezhnaya's situation was slightly different.
At the Zapolyarny Palace, Tsaritsa smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the Harbingers, now all ascended to Middle Gods.
"At last, the Snezhnaya Pantheon has taken shape. Although we're far from matching the other Seven Nations, this is already the best outcome."
The Harbingers knelt on one knee.
Tartaglia declared: "I, Tartaglia, will serve Her Majesty the Tsaritsa with all my heart."
Having become a god, he was naturally thrilled. For a warrior like him, growing stronger was the best reward—and now, countless powerful beings awaited him in this world.
The other Harbingers all expressed their loyalty as well.
Tsaritsa nodded approvingly. Although Snezhnaya had grown over tenfold stronger compared to before, everything was relative.
Originally, the other six nations were thousands of times stronger than Snezhnaya.
Looking purely at the number of gods under each Archon, the other nations had hundreds or even thousands—whereas Snezhnaya now had only a handful.
Moreover, while their gods had all become First-tier Primary Gods, Tsaritsa herself had only reached Second-tier Primary God level. Though she ranked first among Second-tier, the gap to First-tier was still immense.
Even newly-joined pantheons from other worlds had far more gods.
In terms of divine numbers, the Snezhnaya Pantheon was at the bottom of the Teyvat Universe.
And as the weakest pantheon, the newly ascended gods from the mortal realms wouldn't even consider joining her.
She had no abundant resources or prestige to attract them.
Sigh!
Her heart was heavy with bitterness, though she knew it was her own doing.
As the original seven pantheons birthed countless gods, the newly joined ones could only look on with envy.
It wasn't that they lacked "merits"—but the tiny amount they had wasn't even enough to properly create a single god.
News soon spread of the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's impending ascent to Supreme God.
Not that it needed to be "announced"—after all, every god could see the rankings in the Cosmic Nexus, and the Supreme God tier was clearly marked.
Odin's gaze grew deep:
"A Supreme God's ascension... There will surely be a grand festival. I wonder if she'll send an invitation to Asgard?"
A Second-tier Supreme God could directly create worlds—a level he had yet to reach.
He was still just a Second-tier Primary God, not even grasping a single "Truth."
Other pantheon leaders were thinking the same: eagerly hoping for an invitation from the Sumeru Pantheon.
Beyond prestige, it would be a valuable opportunity to build relationships with other gods.
In the divine world, power wasn't everything—connections and favors mattered too.
At that moment, an announcement echoed across the Cosmic Nexus public channel:
[I, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Buer, Supreme Leader of the Sumeru Pantheon, will ascend to the Supreme Seat tomorrow. I hereby invite all Upper Gods and above from every pantheon to attend the celebration.]
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