CHAPTER 346: THE FOURTH PHASE BEGINS—TARGET: A CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX

Though Venti’s power had swelled to unimaginable levels, he could clearly feel it was only a surge in raw force. Its scope was narrow—limited to the strength of Human Principle, and the inheritance of Sagittarius.

This range was extremely constrained. It was neither omnipotence nor omniscience.

It did not raise his level of life, law, spirit, or existence. His higher-dimensional perspective remained fixed at that of a fourfold-universe god.

Nor could he freely command this power. Even wielding it was exceedingly difficult.

The feeling was like that of a newborn infant trying to lift a mountain—utterly unrealistic.

Still, it granted him the ability to unleash more than two thousandfold universes’ worth of force.

If he struck with it now, he could clearly sense the gathered might of Human Principle.

The Solar Sovereignty belonged to Pan-Human History. It was not the possession of any single god—it was a switch, an instrument for drawing upon Pan-Human History.

How far that switch could be turned depended entirely on one’s contribution to Pan-Human History.

It was not as though any god who held it could wield its full strength.

The greater the contribution to Pan-Human History, the greater the share of power one could command.

And Barbatos ranked among the top ten contributors. If he truly unleashed this force, he could directly influence every world under Mondstadt Divine Collective—and even worlds outside its governance would be brought under observation.

Now, Teyvat was already a multiversal structure. Yet all divine collectives combined governed less than one-fifth of its worlds.

The majority remained unobserved.

Not even a leader of a collective, straining with all their might, could view more than a fraction of the unseen worlds.

New worlds were constantly being born, at a pace far surpassing the birth of cosmic-level deities.

But now, with the Solar Sovereignty, Venti could extend his sight.

Slowly, he raised his hand. In his vision, the power of Pan-Human History rippled. One swing of his fist could shake a tenth of the Main Universe.

And the Main Universe was already at transcendent-universe strength.

Such was the might of Pan-Human History’s foremost authority.

He also felt the Solar Sovereignty steadily rising in power.

So long as Pan-Human History grew, the Solar Sovereignty would grow with it.

Just as we predicted. Only by gaining Solar Sovereignty could a divine collective keep pace with Teyvat’s evolution. Otherwise, they would fall behind the growth of the cosmos, and be cast from the stage.

Zhongli watched as Venti’s aura climbed to staggering heights, wrapped in Pan-Human History’s brilliance. Deep within, he was shaken.

This was the power drawn from Solar Sovereignty? To mobilize Pan-Human History directly?

Until now, only Human Principle Phanes of had ever wielded such might.

Pan-Human History encompassed the past, present, and future of all gods, all intelligent life, every civilization. Gods themselves were part of it—merely standing at its peak.

"To think only one of the twenty-four fragments of Solar Sovereignty already holds such force."

"How far beyond reach must the complete Solar Sovereignty be?"

All divine collective leaders knew: the Solar Sovereignty was among Phanes’ authorities. Even one fragment counted as an Eternal Throne—even if ranked the lowest of them.

The aura of Pan-Human History radiating from Venti’s Solar Sovereignty spread beyond the arena, sweeping through the Supreme Divine Realm.

In an instant, it expanded further, enveloping the Main Universe, spilling outward still.

It only halted after reaching one-thousandth of Teyvat’s breadth, enfolding countless universes and worlds within it.

Within this domain, Pan-Human History stirred to life.

With only a measure of external power, the human history within this region could be shifted—guided by a single will. Such great turns in human history would be inscribed into Pan-Human History, and judged by the Truth of Akasha as nodes.

These nodes, under the influence of many Truths, would become historical pivot points, profoundly shaping every divine collective and every civilization of wisdom.

Such pivot points acted as anchors, fixing Pan-Human History, ensuring that what had already occurred would remain as witness to the past.

Of course, Noah had left behind some correction points within Pan-Human History as well.

So long as gods were not explicitly judged by Pan-Human History as fated to die, the possibility of their continued existence would remain.

Nearby, Tet felt the abyssal depth of this power, swallowing nervously.

Gulp... "Th-this... this surpasses even Lumine, who has become a Lord of Law."

As the chief referee of the Gift Game, she could sense the disparity more keenly than any other god.

Lumine was only approaching a thousandfold universes.

Zhongli said, "Naturally. The Solar Sovereignty is a fragment—one twenty-fourth—of a Holy God’s authority. There may be thousands upon thousands of Lawbearers, yet even they combined cannot match a single Holy God."

"But the Solar Sovereignty is a tool, an external force. A Lord of Law’s power is their own. The two cannot truly be compared."

The gods outside the arena had long since fallen silent before the might of the Solar Sovereignty.

Those who had yet to reach even single-universe level could only gaze upward in awe.

No words could capture the force drawn from Pan-Human History.

For gods below single-universe, Pan-Human History imposed absolute limitation.

Above single-universe, it released some restrictions—but with them came far greater responsibility.

Raiden Ei murmured, "So this is the power of Solar Sovereignty... Truly, a strength that terrifies even the gods."

Nahida gazed skyward. The sign of Sagittarius had faded, and in its place the Gemini constellation shone bright.

"Solar Sovereignty—Gemini."

"Then by the hidden rules, the next chosen must be you."

...

As the Solar Sovereignty War raged on, Noah, watching the broadcast within the Temple of Truth, suddenly received a message from the system that had long remained silent.

[Detected: the host’s world has officially advanced to multiversal structure level]

[Commencing next phase—anchoring as a multiverse world]

[Searching for the nearest worlds beyond transcendent-universe, or worlds that could aid in the host’s ascension to multiverse]

[Search complete]

[Three targets selected]

[Individual-type transcendent-universe world: A Certain Magical Index]

[Infinite worldline-type transcendent-universe world: Nasuverse]

[Infinite parallel-intersection weak multiverse world: Little Garden]

"The fourth phase has finally come? Well, it makes sense. Teyvat has already reached multiversal structure level—it was only natural that the fourth phase of annexation would trigger."

Noah gazed at the system’s display of the three great worlds, memories flooding back from his first descent into Teyvat up to now. A smile tugged at his lips—tinged with relief, satisfaction, even pride.

He had taken what was once just a mere bubble world and nurtured it into what it had become today.

"Multiversal structure... In the superdimension, that’s already formidable. One foot is already over the threshold into the multiverse. Reaching true multiverse is now only a matter of time."

Multiversal structure meant surpassing transcendent-universe, stepping toward the multiverse—yet not fully attaining it. Its framework was multiversal, but its mass was not.

To draw an analogy, multiversal structure was akin to demigodhood, while true multiverse was godhood itself.

Teyvat had not undergone the third phase of world searching.

That was thanks to the Tree and Sea’s generous gift, which had allowed Teyvat to skip that step entirely.

Had it proceeded in order, then according to past patterns, Teyvat would have needed to annex a hundredfold universe world, a thousandfold universe world, and one transcendent-universe world to grow to its present scale.

"I thought Teyvat would at least have to finish the Solar Sovereignty War before reaching the requirements for the fourth phase."

"To think it could begin already..."

At that thought, Noah felt a headache coming on.

The gods at the pinnacle—though they had reached strong-universe level—were mostly only single-digit universes. They were far from strong enough to challenge transcendent-universe worlds.

The Nasuverse Great World would be manageable.

Its vastness was intimidating, but its strongest being—Space Ishtar—was only at twofold universes.

The rest, even its galactic civilizations, such as those worshipping mechanical deities or producing starborne soldiers, were no more than galaxy-level.

Even the cosmic concept-entities—the so-called Cthulhuian Outer Gods—reached at most structure-level to universe-level.

And the deities once tied to Earth—Tiamat, Shakyamuni—were no stronger than planetary to stellar-system level.

That world could be entrusted to Teyvat’s gods without issue.

But only that one.

The Magical Index Great World and the Little Garden Great World were another matter entirely.

By Noah’s probing with his Super-Primeval God’s power, even the imperfect Magic Gods of Index possessed power nearing ten-thousandfold universes.

Even if some of that was inflated, it still placed them firmly beyond transcendent-universe.

Such foes were far beyond what Teyvat’s gods could hope to overcome.

And as for wielding the Solar Sovereignty’s power?

Though Pan-Human History was inherently invasive, its reach could not yet extend into a transcendent-universe world.

In such a high-order world, the Solar Sovereignty was practically useless.

If that was true of the Magical Index Great World, then even more so for Little Garden.

Its gods were no stronger than Teyvat’s in themselves, but Little Garden was already a weak multiverse—its mass greater than even the Tree and Sea—and already on the verge of standard multiverse.

It might break through at any moment.

"The drawbacks of rapid world ascension are already catching up..."

Noah pressed his fingers to his brow.

The world had grown too fast. Its gods lagged far behind, unable to match its pace. A strong world with weak gods.

Much like Little Garden itself.

There, too, the world was immense, but its gods were feeble—and divided by constant strife.

In Little Garden, even the strongest of the 2-Digits only reached universe-level to a fewfold universes.

And even they could not observe the entirety of their world. At most, their scope matched that of a single divine collective in Teyvat.

What was more, Little Garden’s observation was not anchored in Pan-Human History, but in human history itself—a full grade lower in standing.

And even then, Little Garden’s framework was split into three perspectives—solar spirit history, divine spirit history, and human history.

Teyvat, by contrast, had borrowed part of Little Garden’s logic, but at a far loftier level.

After all, the gods of Little Garden could not control their entire great world. Unlike Noah as Heavenly Principle, they could not freely "graffiti" upon its very fabric.

"~"

Noah lifted his gaze, peering across infinite barriers toward the dome of the Tree and Sea.

"Tree and Sea... soon. When I have annexed the Magical Index Great World and the Nasuverse Great World, raising Teyvat to weak multiverse—at the very moment you rejoice, believing yourself on the verge of ascending to standard multiverse—that is when I will strike you down with despair. Heh."

The thought alone tugged his lips into a grin.

He shook his head.

"I’ll leave part of the Nasuverse Great World to the gods to handle."

"Mm... but the Milky Way—this part I’ll take for myself."

When he once played FGO, he had spent so much money it nearly broke him. What fun was there in collecting virtual cards?

If one was to play, it should be with real cards—like Space Ishtar of the Shining Blue Galaxy. Back then, chasing her fifth ascension had nearly cost him his living expenses.

As for the Magical Index Great World—he would let the Sustainers and the Holy Gods take charge of that.

It had been too long since they last moved to conquer a world.

Of course, he would never admit he simply wanted to watch the goddesses fight one another.

Ophis against Othinus, Mio against Nephthys... the spectacle alone would be worth it.

And as for the Little Garden Great World...

By then, Teyvat would already have annexed two transcendent-universe great worlds, plus the weak-multiverse Tree and Sea.

At that point, it would have become a true multiverse. To subdue Little Garden—a decayed pseudo-multiverse whose highest power was the End Emptiness without even true consciousness—would be no challenge at all.

He would never take unnecessary risks. Every move must be striking the soft persimmon with an iron grip.

"For now, with the gods still engaged in the Solar Sovereignty War, the Nasuverse Great World can wait. We begin with the Magical Index Great World."

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